Number  25 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 

OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 

PRESENTED  BY 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


***^««tte»Tr« 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/princesofpeeleOOwest 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE 


THE 

PRINCES    OF    PEELE 


BY 

WILLIAM  WESTALL 

AUTHOR  OF 

A  QUEER  RACE,"     "THE  BLIND  MUSICIAN,"    "THE   PHANTOM  CITY," 
"  MR.    FORTESCUE,,'     ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

LOVELL,  CORYELL  &  COMPANY 

5    AND   7    EAST    SIXTEENTH    STERET 


COPVRIGHT,    lSu2, 


UNITED  STATES  6OOK  COMPANY 


[.-?//  righls  resi'r7'e,i.\ 


THE    PRINCES    OF    PEELE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MRS.  prince's  presentiment. 

The  hall  of  an  old-fashioned  country  house.  Background, 
a  massive  oaken  staircase  ;  on  the  walls,  several  handsomely- 
framed  prints  ;  a  trophy,  composed  of  a  fox's  mask  and  half 
a  dozen  "  brushes  "  and  stags'  antlers,  arranged  as  a  hat-stand. 
In  the  foreground,  vases  filled  with  ferns  and  flowers. 

The  comely  couple  standing  in  the  sunlight,  which  streams 
in  through  the  doorway,  are  the  master  and  mistress  of  the 
house,  Leonard  Prince  and  Dorothy  his  wife.  He  is  drawing 
on  his  gloves,  she  putting  a  gardenia  in  his  buttonhole.  Mrs. 
Prince  is  the  stouter,  albeit  not  the  taller  of  the  two,  a  matron 
of  somewhat  imposing  presence,  well-favored,  with  dark  eyes 
and  a  fair  skin.  Mr.  Prince,  not  having  thickened  with  age 
like  his  spouse,  looks  younger  than  his  years,  which  are  far  on 
in  the  fifties  ;  his  hair  and  mutton-chop  whiskers  are  turning 
white,  his  comely  face  is  bright  with  health  and  high  spirits, 
and  his  keen  gray  eyes,  strong  white  teeth,  and  square  jaws 
bespeak  a  vigorous  constitution,  a  sanguine  temperament, 
and  an  energetic  character. 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  my  dear,"  says  Mr.  Prince  as  his 
wife  hands  him  his  hat,  "  I  think  I  hear  Tommy's  step  on 
the  gravel.     Come  with  me  as  far  as  the  lodge  gates." 

Mrs.  Prince  put  on  her  garden  hat,  and  the  two  went  out 
together  at  the  open  door. 

Tommy,  Mr.  Prince's  hack,  an  old  favorite  who  knew  his 
business  so  well  that  he  always  came  to  be  mounted  without 
escort,  was  waiting  for  his  master.     Mrs.  Prince  stroked  his 

603306 


6  THE  PKIXCKS  01-  PEELE. 

neck,  gave  him  a  piece  of  sugar,  and  the  three  walked  slowly 
down  the  avenue. 

Mr.  Prince  cast  a  backward  longing  glance  at  the  house, 
as  if  he  were  sorry  to  leave  it,  even  for  the  day  ;  and  well  he 
might  be,  for  it  was  a  glorious  morning,  and  Holmcroft,  with 
its  brick  walls,  tiled  roof,  clustering  ivy  and  rose-covered 
porch,  and  in  its  fair  setting  of  shrubberies  and  gardens,  never 
looked  more  charming  and  picturesque. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  dear,  beautiful  old  place,"  said  INIrs.  Prince, 
following  her  husband's  eye,  and  reading  his  thoughts.  "  Yet 
what  a  wilderness  it  was  when  we  came  here,  nearly  thirty 
years  since." 

"  So  it  is ;  and  since  we  were  first  married.  We  have  a 
great  deal  to  be  thankful  for." 

*'  We  have  indeed.  God  has  been  very  good  to  us,  and  if 
we  are  permitted  to  end  our  days  here " 

"  If  I  had  reason  to  fear  we  should  not,  I  think  it  would 
break  my  heart." 

"  And  mine.  However,  we  need  not  talk  about  ending  our 
days.  Neither  of  us  is  so  very  old  yet.  You  are  the  young- 
est man  of  your  years  in  the  county  ;  and  Mr.  Vayle  was 
saying  only  the  other  day  that  you  rode  as  straight  as  when 
you  were  thirty." 

"  And  you  walk  as  straight,  Dorothy.  While,  as  for  your 
looks " 

"  No  more  ;  an'  thou  lovest  me  !  You  might  suppose  I 
w'as  fishing  for  a  compliment.  Shall  you  be  home  late  to- 
night ?  " 

"  No,  Monday  is  generally  an  easy  day  at  the  office  ;  and 
if  there  isn't  much  doing  I  mean  to  return  early  and  do  some 
jack-fishing  before  dinner." 

"  It  seems  rather  a  long  time  since  we  heard  from  Jack, 
doesn't  it?  " 

Mr.  Prince  smiled  ;  he  was  amused  that  his  mention  of 
jack-fishing  should  remind  his  wife  of  their  eldest  son  ;  but 
answered  gravely — 

"  Well,  I  don't  know.  It  seems  only  the  other  day  that 
you  had  a  letter  from  him." 

"  It  is  nearly  three  weeks  since." 

"  i)ear  me  !  How  time  flies  ;  I  suppose  he  has  been  too 
busy." 

"  I  am  sure  he  has  not  been  so  busy  that  he  could  not  find 


THE  FRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  -j 

time  to  write  to  his  mother,  and I  hope  he  is  not  going 

wrong  again,  Leonard." 

"  Why  should  you  think  so  ?  Peploe  speaks  of  him  in  the 
highest  terms.  He  is  very  steady  and  regular,  and  is  becoming 
quite  an  adept  at  underwriting,  they  say.  They  are  quite 
willing  to  take  him  in  as  a  junior  partner  next  year,  if  I  find 
two  thou.  I  think  by  that  time  I  shall  be  able  to  do  it — 
with  a  little  effort ;  and  I  don't  see  why  I  should  not.  They 
are  a  young  firm,  I  know,  but  Peploe  and  Pope  are  both 
honorable  arid  enterprising  ;  and  it  is  a  chance  not  to  be 
missed." 

"  I  hope  Jack  will  prove  himself  worthy  of  it,  but  my  mind 
misgives  me." 

"  Because  he  has  not  written  to  you  for  a  fortnight  ? " 

"  Not  that  only,  though  it  is  a  bad  sign.  In  his  letters 
lately  there  has  been  something  that  I  cannot  define,  which 
has  made  me  very  uneasy.  Moreover,  in  my  last  letter  to 
him,  written  nearly  three  weeks  ago,  I  put  some  very  pointed 
questions,  which  he  has  not  thought  fit  to  answer — another 
bad  sign.  And  you  know  how  facile  and  impulsive  he  is; 
and  he  has  gone  wrong  before.  My  fear  is  that  he  may  be 
running  into  debt.     He  was  always  a  spendthrift." 

"  You  are  over  anxious,  Dorothy.  True,  Jack  has  gone 
wrong  before,  as  you  say,  and  given  us  no  end  of  trouble,  but 
he  has  many  redeeming  qualities — he  has  never  done  anything 
dishonorable,  nor  taken  to  drink ;  he  is  sharp  and  clever  too, 
and  very  affectionate.  Moreover,  for  three  years  his  conduct 
has  been  quite  irreproachable ;  his  employers  speak  well  of 
him  ;  and  I  think  we  may  safely  conclude  that  he  has  sown 
his  wild  oats." 

"  Well,  I  am  perhaps  mistaken.     Let  us  say  no  more  about 
it,  and  hope  for  the  best ;  and  if  Jack  had  been  like  Ned  and 
Charlie  we  should  have  been  almost  too  happy.     One  must 
have  a  cross,  I  suppose.  .....  Here  we  are  at  the  lodge 

gates.     I  shall  expect  you  about  four.     Good-bye,  dear." 

"  Good-bye,  dear,"  echoed  Mr.  Prince  ;  and  then,  after  kiss- 
ing his  wife,  he  rode  off,  slowly  and  pensively. 

"  I  hope  I  have  not  made  Leonard  unhappy  with  my  croak- 
ing," thought  Mrs.  Prince  to  herself,  as  she  wended  up  the 
avenue.  "  But  I  have  had  misgivings  about  Jack  for  some 
time,  and  I  did  no  more  than  my  duty  in  telling  Leonard.  It 
is  not  as  if  I  had  no  warning  for  my  fears.     I  know  Jack 


8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

better  than  he  does.  His  letters  have  not  been  sincere  this 
month  or  more,  and  if  he  could  have  answered  my  queries  he 
would  have  done  so.  Of  that  I  am  sure.  In  spite  of  our  exhor- 
tations I  fear — nay  I  am  almost  sure — that  he  has  been  get- 
ting into  debt.  I  will  write  again  to-day,  and  insist  on  an 
answer,  and  if  it  is  not  forthcoming  his  father  shall  go  to 
Liverpool  and  see  him." 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Prince  was  mentally  accusing  his  wife  of 
being  fidgety,  and  too  prone  to  look  on  the  dark  side  of 
things.  "  What  if  Jack  has  been  wild  ?  "  he  thought.  "  Many 
a  young  fellow  who  has  been  wild  turns  out  well.  And  if 
there  were  anything  wrong,  Peploe  and  Pope  would  be  sure 
to  let  me  know.  All  the  same,  he  should  answer  his  mother's 
letters  ;  and  when  I  get  to  the  office  I  will  write  and  tell  him 
so."  And  then  Mr.  Prince,  dismissing  the  subject  from  his 
mind,  and  turning  Tommy  on  the  turfy  side  of  the  road,  can- 
tered gaily  towards  Peele. 

Jack,  their  eldest  son,  had  been  a  trouble  to  his  parents 
from  his  youth  upwards.  In  addition  to  minor  scrapes  he 
was  expelled  from  a  public  school,  and  after  spending  a  term 
or  two  at  Cambridge,  ran  off,  worked  his  way  in  a  sailing 
ship  to  Australia,  and  a  few  years  later  returned  to  Holmcroft, 
penitent  and  ashamed.  The  experience  did  him  good ;  his 
father  thought  it  had  wrought  a  radical  change  in  his  char- 
acter, and  after  a  few  months'  probation  at  home,  Mr.  Prince 
got  the  repentant  prodigal  a  place  with  Peploe  and  Pope,  a 
Liverpool  firm  of  ship  and  insurance  brokers,  where  the 
knowledge  of  shipping  and  commerce  which  he  had  gained 
on  his  voyages  and  at  Melbourne,  stood  him  in  good  stead, 
and  being  bright  and  intelligent  withal,  and  having  that  cap- 
city  for  making  friends  so  common  with  most  scapegraces, 
he  was  not  long  in  winning  the  confidence  of  his  employers, 
and  obtaining  a  leading  position  in  their  office. 

PI  is  father,  though  greatly  disappointed  (he  had  intended 
him  for  the  bar),  laid  the  flattering  unction  to  his  soul  that 
Jack  was  on  the  high  road  to  fortune  and  would  give  him  no 
more  trouble,  an  opinion,  however,  in  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
his  wife  did  not  share. 

Of  their  two  other  sons,  Edward,  the  elder,  is  rounding  off 
his  legal  education  in  the  office  of  his  father's  London  agent, 
and  Charlie,  in  the  intervals  of  shooting,  fishing,  and  hunting, 
is  serving  his  articles  in  the  paternal  establishment. 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  g 

As  Mr.  Prince  rides  up  the  High  Street  of  Peele,  which 
straggles  over  a  low  hill,  topped  by  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle, 
he  is  greeted  by  all  and  sundry.  Common  folks  touch  their 
hats  to  him,  others  nod  familiarly,  and  say  "  Good-morning, 
Mr.  Prince,"  for  the  master  of  Holmcroft  is  the  most  popular 
and  influential  man  in  the  town,  leading  solicitor,  clerk  of 
the  peace,  clerk  to  the  justices  and  board  of  guardians,  and 
agent  to  Lord  Hermitage,  the  largest  land-owner  in  those 
parts.  He  has  been  several  times  mayor,  and  no  candidate 
for  suffrages  of  the  "  free  and  independent  "  burgesses  of 
the  borough  whom  he  does  not  support  has  much  chance  of 
becoming  its  representative  in  Parliament. 

His  friend,  Mr.  Lincoln  (of  the  great  American  firm  of 
Lyman,  Lincoln,  and  Jump),  who  has  a  country  seat  in  the 
neighborhood,  calls  him  the  "  Boss  of  Peele." 

He  is,  moreover,  supposed  to  be  well  off ;  keeps  a  stud  of 
hunters,  lives  in  good  style,  and  gives  liberally  to  local  chari- 
ties. His  legal  business  is  of  the  lucrative  sort  so  much  de- 
sired by  solicitors — mainly  conveyancing  ;  he  is  the  trusted 
adviser  of  all  the  squires  and  farmers  in  the  countryside, 
and  save  in  litigious  cases  never  had  a  bill  taxed  in  his  life, 
nor  has  he  ever  consented  to  take  up  an  unclean  case  or 
accept  a  disreputable  client. 

Mr.  Prince  reins  up  before  an  old-fashioned  house  in  the 
High  Street,  throws  his  right  leg  over  his  horse's  withers  and 
drops  lightly  on  the  pavement.  On  this.  Tommy  goes  off  to 
his  stable,  and  his  master  walks  briskly  into  his  office,  the 
old-fashioned  house  aforesaid.  The  brass  plate  on  the  door 
bears  the  inscription — 

*'  Prince  and  Prince,  Solicitors." 


The  Princes  in  question  were  Mr.  Leonard  Prince's  father 
and  uncle,  to  whose  business  he  succeeded  many  years  pre- 
viously. They  have  been  long  dead,  but  he  likes  to  keep  up 
the  old  style,  the  more  especially  as  he  has  good  reason  to 
believe  that  his  sons  will  succeed  him  in  turn,  and  the  firm 
become,  in  reality  as  in  name,  "  Prince  and  Prince  "  once 
more. 

After  looking  in  at  the  general  ofiice  and  the  estate  office, 
and  seeing  that  all  the  clerks  are  at  work,  and  bidding  them 


10  THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

good-morning,  Mr.  Prince  enters  his  own  room,  where  he  is 
presently  joined  by  Mr.  Lillywhite,  his  managing  clerk, 

A  queer-looking  gentleman  was  Mr.  Lillywhite.  People 
said  he  had  the  longest  head  in  all  Peele.  He  had  certainly 
the  biggest  nose  ;  and  it  was  the  only  part  of  his  face  which 
blushed  or  otherwise  showed  emotion,  the  rest  of  his  visage 
being  as  sallow  and  expressionless  as  a  piece  of  his  own  parch- 
ment. The  nose,  however,  was  all  expression.  It  moved 
when  he  talked,  wobbled  when  he  laughed,  and  trembled  when 
he  swore.  Its  hue  changed  with  the  days  of  the  week.  On 
a  Monday  morning  it  was  terra  cotta  red  ;  by  Wednesday  it 
toned  down  to  light  purple,  on  Saturday  it  was  generally  light 
blue.  These  remarkable  variations  were  conceiveably  due  to 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Lillywhite  made  a  rule  of  drinking  a  bottle 
of  old  port  with  his  Sunday  dinner,  and  with  his  other  dinners 
only  beer.  The  managing  clerk  was  further  distinguished  by 
the  length  of  his  body  and  the  phenomenal  bareness  of  his 
face  and  head,  the  only  hair  of  which  he  could  boast  being  a 
single  yellow  tuft  on  the  top  of  his  cranium,  which  he  humor- 
ously called  his  scalp  lock. 

"  Anything  new  this  morning,  Lillywhite  ? "  asked  Mr. 
Prince  as  he  opened  his  letters. 

"  Nothing  particular.  Mr.  Jumper  called.  He  wants 
another  will  making." 

"  The  deuce  he  does  !  Why,  that  will  be  the  second  this 
year,  won't  it  ?  " 

"  The  third.  He  is  a  good  man,  Mr.  Jumper,  always  think- 
ing about  his  latter  end.  However,  it  amuses  him  and  pays 
us.  This  is  a  free  country  and  a  man  has  a  right  to  make  as 
many  wills  as  he  likes." 

"  Well,  prepare  the  draft,  and  let  him  have  it  at  once.  Has 
anybody  else  called  ?  " 

"  A  gentleman  who  seemed  rather  anxious  to  see  you.  He 
was  here  when  I  came.  Said  he  would  call  again  shortly, 
but  refused  to  give  his  name." 

"  A  stranger  then  .''  " 

"  He  must  be  ;  I  never  saw  him  before." 

"  Probably  a  commercial  traveller,  who  wants  to  recover  a 
debt  for  his  house." 

"  I  don't  think  so.  He  does  not  look  like  one.  Besides, 
in  that  case  he  would  have  told  me  his  business.  Shall  I 
send  him  in  to  you  if  he  comes  again  ?  " 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  II 

"  By  all  means." 

"Well,  I  think  I'll  go  and  prepare  this  draft.  It  will  be 
little  more  than  a  copy  of  the  previous  will,  with  a  few  varia- 
tions." 

Whereupon  jNIr.  Lillywhite  withdrew  ;  but  the  door  had 
hardly  closed  behind  him  when  he  was  back  again. 

"  Here  he  is,  Mr.  Prince,"  he  whispered.     "Just  come  in 

at  the  front  door This  way,  sir.     Mr.  Prince  has 

arrived." 

And  then  there  entered  a  tall  red-haired  gentleman  in  a 
tweed  travelling  suit,  closely  followed  by  the  managing  clerk. 

"  God  bless  me,  Mr.  Peploe !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Prince, 
rising  from  his  chair  with  a  look  of  blank  surprise.  "  How 
are  you  ?  " 

"  As  well  as  can  be  expected,  thank  you,  seeing  that  I  have 
been  travelling  all  night.  Could  I  have  a  word  with  you,  Mr. 
Prince  ?  "   (glancing  at  Lillywhite). 

The  head  clerk  took  the  hint  and  withdrew  a  second 
time. 

"  Peploe,  Peploe,"  he  murmured,  "  Peploe  and  Pope. 
One  of  Jack's  masters.     What's  up  now,  I  wonder  ?  " 

"  Pray  take  a  seat,  Mr.  Peploe,"  said  Mr.  Prince  seriously, 
for  he  thought  of  his  wife,  and  feared  that  this  visit  boded 
no  good.  Peploe  was  a  busy  man.  It  was  no  light  cause 
that  brought  him  all  the  way  from  Liverpool  to  Peele. 
"  How  did  you  leave  Jack  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  leave  him  at  all.     He  left  us." 

"  Left  you  ?     How,  Mr.  Peploe  t  " 

"  In  the  lurch.  You  will  excuse  mybluntness,  Mr.  Prince. 
But  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  just  now  to  beat  about 
the  bush.  I  must  come  to  the  point  at  once.  Your  son  has 
robbed  us — that  is  why  I  am  here  to-day." 

Mr,  Prince  turned  as  white  as  a  sheet,  and  fell  back  in  his 
chair  as  if  he  had  been  struck. 

"  Robbed  you  !  No,  no,  Mr.  Peploe  !  That  is  impos- 
sible. Jack  may  have  been  a  Httle  wild  and  extravagant, 
perhaps,  but  not  dishonest,  don't  say  he  has  been  dis- 
honest." 

"  I  wish  to  God  he  had  not.  But  there,  see  for  your- 
self." 


12  THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER    II. 

peploe's  proposal. 

ISIr.  Peploe  took  from  his  pocket-book  two  documents 
and  laid  them  on  Mr.  Prince's  desk. 

One  was  a  wildly  incoherent  letter  from  Jack,  in  which, 
with  many  expressions  of  contrition,  the  writer  acknowl- 
edged having  abused  his  employers'  confidence  and  ''  taken  " 
a  large  sum  of  money — lost  on  the  Stock  Exchange  and 
betting — he  must  have  been  mad,  but  he  would  pay  them 
back  every  penny,  so  help  him  God,  he  would.  He  ended 
by  begging  them  to  say  nothing  to  his  father. 

The  other  document  was  to  the  following  effect  : — 

"  Private  and  Confidential. 
"  Messrs.  Peploe  and  Pope, 

"  Dear  Sirs, — I  have  gone  through  your  books  and  find 
that  the  defalcations  directly  traceable  to  Mr.  John  Prince 
amount  to  the  sum  of  19,450/,  i^s.  6ci. — Yours  truly,  Henry 
Tanner,  Accountant." 

Mr.  Prince  gazed  at  these  letters  like  one  fascinated, 
and  his  hand  trembled  so  that  he  could  scarcely  hold 
them.  He  knew  from  the  first  that  Peploe  was  the  bearer 
of  bad  news  ;  but  the  reality  surpassed  his  worst  fore- 
bodings. His  eldest  son  a  felon  and  a  fugitive  from  justice  ! 
He  would  rather  have  heard  that  Jack  had  died  by  his  own 
hand.  Yet,  even  in  that  moment  of  unspeakable  mental 
anguish  Leonard  Prince's  first  thought  was  of  his  wife. 
"What  would  she  say?  How  would  she  bear  it?  How 
should  he  tell  her  ?  "  he  asked  himself. 

"  But  you — how  ?  "  he  said  at  length  in  a  husky  voice. 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,"  answered  Mr.  Peploe.  "You 
mean  how  came  we  to  let  him  rob  us  to  the  tune  of  nearly 
twenty  thousand  pounds  ?      \\'ell,  we  were  fools,  there  is  no 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEE  I.E. 


13 


doubt  about  that,  people  are  fools  sometimes.  But  he  got  on 
the  blind  side  of  us — that's  a  fact.  And  it  never  occurred  to 
us  that  such  a  bright,  seemingly  straightforv/ard  young  fellow, 
so  respectably  connected,  too,  could  be  otherwise  than  honest. 
The  worst  of  it  is  that  it  is  not  our  money  that  he  has 
taken." 

"  Not  your  own  money." 

"  No,  it  is  clients'  money.  You  know  the  nature  of  our 
business.  We  underwrite  the  names  of  a  number  of  friends 
to  policies,  and  the  accumulated  premiums  form  a  fund  for 
the  payment  of  losses.  If  the  premiums  exceed  the  losses 
the  profit  goes  to  the  underwriters,  less  our  commission  ;  if 
the  losses  exceed  the  premiums  the  underwriters  have  to  make 
up  the  difference.  We  have  the  handling  of  the  money,  which 
we  invest  on  the  best  terms  we  can  obtain,  compatible  with 
good  security.  Latterly  this  branch  of  the  business  has  been 
managed  by  your  son,  under  our  directions.  I  am  afraid, 
though,  we  did  not  look  as  sharply  after  him  as  we  should 
have  done.  But  as  I  said  just  now,  we  never  thought  that  a 
man  so  respectably  connected,  and  of  whom  we  thought  so 
highly  that  we  were  going  to  take  him  into  partnership, 
Avould  go  wrong.  He  was  so  diligent,  too,  and  regular  in 
his  attendance  at  the  office — would  not  even  take  a  holiday. 
I  know  why,  now.     If  he  had  he  would  have  been  found  out. 

"  Well,  last  Saturday  he  went  yachting  with  some  friends, 
and  intended  to  be  back  on  Sunday  night  or  Monday  morning, 
but  the  yacht  got  into  trouble  off  the  Welsh  coast,  and  Prince 
did  not  turn  up  at  the  office  on  Monday.  Now,  it  so  happened, 
that  on  the  same  day  I  received  notice  of  several  claims  ;  also 
I  heard  that  a  steamer  in  which  we  were  rather  largely 
interested  had  come  to  grief  in  the  Channel.  Knowing  we 
should  want  money,  and  a  lot  of  it — when  claims  are  concerned 
it  never  rains  but  it  pours — I  called  at  a  bank  where  we  had, 
or  rather  should  have  had,  ten  thousand  pounds  on  deposit, 
and  gave  notice  of  withdrawal.  I  was  told  that  nearly  half  of 
it  had  already  been  withdrawn  in  various  amounts  and  at 
intervals  extending  over  several  weeks.  Though  surprised  I 
was  not  alarmed.  I  merely  thought  that  Prince  had  changed 
the  investment  for  some  good  reason,  and  blamed  him  only 
for  not  informing  me.  But  when  I  found  that  the  books 
contained  no  entry  of  the  withdrawals,  the  possibility  of 
something  being  wrong  dawned  on  my  mind.     As  the  day 


14  THE  PRINCES  OE  FEELE. 

went  on  my  uneasiness  increased,  and  as  soon  as  I  could  get 
away  from  the  office  I  called  at  your  son's  lodgings.  He  had 
not  returned.  In  the  course  of  the  evening  I  called  three 
times,  always  with  the  same  result. 

"  When  I  called  again  next  morning,  I  learned  that  he  did 
not  return  till  midnight,  and  must  have  left  shortly  after- 
wards. At  any  rate,  he  had  not  been  in  bed.  My  visits  had 
alarmed  him,  perhaps,  also,  he  heard  of  the  loss  of  the 
'  Cyclops,'  and  knew  that,  in  view  of  our  financial  require- 
ments, his  frauds  could  no  longer  be  concealed.  Anyhow,  I 
have  not  seen  him  since  last  Saturday.  That  note  came  by 
post." 

"  The  wretched,  misguided  boy,"  groaned  Mr.  Prince. 
"  Have  you  any  idea  where  he  is  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  am  afraid  I  could  not  give  you  his  correct  address 
at  this  moment.  But  I  don't  doubt  that  if  I  tried  I  could  lay 
my  hands  on  him." 

In  saying  this  Mr.  Peploe  went  rather  beyond  the  mark. 
He  had  not  the  faintest  idea  what  was  become  of  Jack,  but  it 
did  not  just  then  suit  his  purpose  to  say  so. 

"  Do  you  propose  to  prosecute .''  "  asked  Mr.  Prince,  in  a 
voice  which  showed  how  much  the  effort  cost  him. 

"  Well,  that  depends  on  circumstances.  We  might,  you 
know.  Your  son  has  behaved  shamefully,  there  is  no  doubt 
about  that.  We  trusted  him  and  he  has  betrayed  us.  All  the 
same,  we  have  no  wish  to  go  to  extremities,  and  if  we  could 
be  met " 

"  If  you  could  be  met.  Pray  be  explicit,  Mr.  Peploe,"  said 
Mr.  Prince,  looking  as  if  he  had  no  idea  what  the  other  was 
driving  at,  though  he  knew  only  too  well. 

"  Explicit !  Oh,  yes,  I  will  be  explicit.  It  is  very  easy  to 
be  explicit  in  an  affair  of  this  sort.  As  I  remarked  just  now, 
we  have  no  desire  to  prosecute.  But  unless  we  can  have 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  within  the  next  four  days — say  by 
next  Tuesday,  at  the  latest — we  must  pull  up,  and  then  every- 
thing will  be  exposed,  and  we  shall  be  forced  to  hunt  your  son 
down  and  prosecute  him,  if  only  for  our  own  justification  ; 
and  as  it  is  a  case  of  forgery  as  well  as  embezzlement,  we 
can  fetch  him  back  from  America,  or  anywhere  else,  if  he 
goes  out  of  the  country." 

"  Forgery  !     Good  heavens  !  " 

"  Yes,  it  is  mostly  embezzlement,  but  there  are  one  or  two 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


IS 


undoubted  cases  of  forgery.  It  would  be  a  terrible  scandal 
for  all  of  us.  But  if  we  can  be  met,  nobody  need  be  the  wiser. 
Tanner  is  sworn  to  secrecy,  so  to  speak,  and  you  may  be 
sure  we  won't  split.  If  this  got  wind  we  should  lose  half  our 
underwriters,  and  our  credit  would  be  ruined.  Can  you  find 
us  fifteen  thousand  pounds  between  this  and  next  Tuesday, 
Mr.  Prince  ?  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  make  any  promises 
about  paying  you  back ;  we  shall  have  to  lose  nearly  five 
thousand  ourselves,  and  we  are  only  a  young  firm,  but  we 
would  try  to  pay  you  a  moderate  interest.  What  do  you  say, 
Mr.  Prince,  will  you  do  it .''  " 

"  It  is  not  a  quesion  of  will,  Mr.  Peploe,  I  am  grieved 
beyond  measure,  I  am  unspeakably  humiliated  that  a  son  of 
mine  should  have  done  you  this  wrong.  It  adds  to  my  grief 
that  his  wrong-doing  may  entail  your  ruin,  but  I  cannot  do 
what  you  wish." 

Peploe's  saturnine  face  flushed  with  anger  and  disappoint- 
ment. 

"  That  means  you  won't,"  he  exclaimed  angrily.  "  I  know 
fifteen  thousand  is  a  big  lump.  But  just  consider  the  con- 
sequences of  your  refusal.  Our  ruin  is  a  minor  consideration. 
\\'e  should  have  looked  better  after  our  business,  I  admit ; 
but  having  regard  to  the  circumstances,  I  don't  think  the 
creditors  will  be  very  hard  on  us.  They  will  let  us  make  a 
fresh  start.  But  think  of  your  son  in  a  felon's  dock,  he  is 
sure  to  get  ten  years  at  least  ;  think  of  the  scandal  it  will 
cause.  You  are  a  great  man  here,  I  am  told.  How  will  you 
look  your  townsmen  in  the  face  when  they  know  that  your 
eldest  son " 

"  Mind  what  you  say,  sir,  or ,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Prince, 

springing  from  his  chair,  as  if  he  were  minded  to  resent  the 
insult  with  a  blow  or  show  the  insulter  to  the  door. 

Then  he  sank  down  and  bowed  his  head.  The  man  had 
only  spoken  the  truth. 

"  You  feel  it  keenly.  I  knew  you  would.  What  father 
would  not,"  returned  Peploe  soothingly.  "  All  the  more 
reason  for  letting  us  have  this  money.  It  will  be  well  laid  out, 
and  we  are  asking  nothing  unreasonable  ;  we  will  pay  you  in- 
terest. My  partner  said  to  me  the  last  thing  before  I  came  away 
— '  Be  sure,'  he  said,  '  you  don't  ask  the  old  gentleman  any- 
thing unreasonable,  Sam.  It  is  not  hush-money  we  want, 
only  help.' " 


1 6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Mr.  Prince  winced.  He  prided  himelf  on  the  comparative 
youthfulness  of  his  appearance,  and  it  went  against  the  grain 
to  know  that  these  Liverpool  people  spoke  of  him  as  "  the 
old  gentleman." 

"  Reasonable  or  unreasonable,  I  am  unable  to  do  it,  Mr. 
Peploe,"  he  returned  sharply.  "  I  don't  say  I  would  not  if  I 
could.  But  as  I  unfortunately  don't  happen  to  have  fifteen 
thousand  pounds  in  my  pocket  or  at  my  bankers " 

"  I  did  not  suppose  you  had,  Mr.  Prince.  But  there  are 
ways  and  means.  A  gentleman  in  your  position  could  easily 
raise  as  much.     Anyhow,  I  should  think  so." 

"  Not  in  four  or  five  days." 

"  We  might,  perhaps,  make  it  seven." 

"  Not  in  seven,  nor  in  fourteen  days." 

"  In  that  case  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said,"  observed 
Peploe,  rising  from  his  chair  ;  "  things  must  take  their  course, 
I  suppose." 

Mr.  Prince  made  no  answer.  It  seemed  useless  to  prolong 
the  interview,  and  he  wanted  Peploe  to  go.  He  was  beginning 
to  hate  the  man,  and  he  wanted  to  be  alone. 

"  Things  must  take  their  course,  I  suppose,"  repeated  the 
persistent  Liverpudlian.  "  But,  perhaps,  you  may  tliink 
better  of  it  after  all  ;  and  if  you  do — if  you  see  your  way — 
you  will,  perhaps,  be  good  enough  to  telegraph  to  our  office 
in  Liverpool.  We  won't  take  any  action  before  Friday,  but 
the  sooner  the  better.  One  word  will  do — '  Arranged,' 
We  shall  understand." 

"  I  can  hold  out  no  encouragement,  Mr.  Peploe,  none 
whatever.  Nevertheless,  if  I  should  see  my  way  I  will 
telegraph,  as  you  say." 

Peploe's  countenance  brightened.  Like  drowning  men, 
the  financially  embarrassed  catch  at  straws,  and,  though  fairly 
considered,  the  lawyer's  concluding  observation  offered  little 
ground  for  hope,  Peploe  went  away  comforted,  and  little 
doubting  that  on  his  arrival  at  Liverpool  he  should  find 
awaiting  him  the  telegram  whose  despatch  he  had  suggested. 

When  the  door  closed  behind  his  visitor,  Mr.  Prince  leaned 
back  in  his  chair,  and  wiped  the  perspiration  from  his  brow. 
He  had  undergone  the  most  painful  experience  of  his  life, 
and  there  was  worse  in  store.  How  should  he  break  the  news 
to  his  wife  ?  If  he  could  spare  her  he  would.  But  it  was 
impossible.     Know  she  must.     In  a  week  the  secret  would  be 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


17 


out.  For  though  he  had  not  liked  to  say  so  in  express  terms, 
it  was  as  much  out  of  his  power  to  find  fifteen  thousand 
pounds  in  four  days,  or  four  months,  as  to  find  fifty  thousand. 
-Contrary  to  the  general  belief,  a  belief  which  he  rather 
encouraged,  Mr.  Prince  was  not  rich.  He  had  a  good  income, 
and  he  lived  up  to  it.  Beyond  the  two  or  three  thousand 
pounds  which  he  employed  in  his  business  for  temporary 
advances  to  his  clients,  and  so  forth,  and  which  he  could 
neither  well  spare  nor  immediately  realize,  he  had  very  little 
laid  by.  He  had  always  looked  on  his  business  as  an  estate 
which  he  could  bequeath  to  his  sons  as  his  father  had 
bequeathed  it  to  him.  His  wife  was  provided  for  by  a 
marriage  settlement  and  a  policy  of  insurance  on  his  life. 
He  had  not  thought  it  necessary  to  economize,  and  though 
not  a  thriftless  man,  it  gave  him  less  pleasure  to  accumulate 
than  to  spend.  But  now  he  bitterly  regretted  that  he  had 
not  been  more  provident ;  for  he  would  gladly  have  paid 
twice,  nay  thrice,  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  to  avert  the 
disaster  with  which  he  was  threatened. 

Only  a  few  days,  and,  as  Peploe  said,  he  would  be  unable 
to  look  his  neighbors  in  the  face.  The  hue  and  cry  after 
Jack  ;  the  story  of  his  defalcations  told  in  every  paper  in  the 
land  ;  the  trial  and  sentence  (for  he  was  sure  to  be  taken)  ; 
the  consternation  of  friends,  the  exultation  of  the  envious ; 
the  joy  of  political  opponents ;  all  this  was  torture,  even  in 
the  thought.     What  would  it  be  in  the  reality  .-• 

Moreover,  the  scandal  could  hardly  fail  to  injure  his  business 
and  imperil  his  position,  and  Mr.  Prince  valued  his  position 
hardly  less  than  he  valued  his  life.  Better  leave  Peele  alto- 
gether. And  yet  leaving  Peele  would  be  the  end  of  the  world. 
There  was  no  other  spot  in  it  where,  for  him  and  his,  life  would 
be  worth  living. 

A  knock  at  the  door. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Mr.  Prince,  taking  a  paper  at  random  from 
the  pile  before  him. 

When  Mr.  Lillywhite  entered  the  room  his  principal  was 
deep  in  the  perusal  of  counsel's  opinion  in  the  matter  of 
"  Towzler  v.  Towzler  and  another." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Peploe  is  gone,  then,"  said  the  managing  clerk, 
with  well  affected  surprise ;  for  he  had  heard  Peploe's 
departing  footsteps. 

"  Yes,  he  is  gone.     What  is  it  ?     Anything  new .?  " 

2 


l8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Only  that  Hutchins  wants  ten  or  twelve  thousand  pounds 
on  the  security  of  his  Tanfield  property.  It  is  worth  half  as 
much  again,  and  as  he  will  pay  five  per  cent,  and  execute  a 
mortgage  for  five  years  I  thought  it  would  be  an  excellent 
investment  for  some  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  money." 

"  Mrs.  Lincoln's  money  is  very  well  where  it  is.  You  can- 
not beat  Consols  for  safety,  and  one  or  two  per  cent,  makes 
no  difference  to  her." 

"  That  is  true.  All  the  same,  the  transfer  would  make 
good  business  for  the  office.  Hutchins  would  stand  a 
'procuration  fee,'  and  investigating  titles  and  drawing  the 
mortgage,  and  what   not,    would    make    a   nice  penny." 

"  Right  you  are,  Lillywhite.  You  have  always  an  eye  to 
the  main  chance.  If  I  had  not  you  to  look  after  details  it 
it  would  not  be  the  office  it  is  by  a  long  way.  Yes,  the 
transfer  would  make  something  nice,  and  lawyers  live  on 
costs  I  have  heard  say." 

"  Two  hundred  pounds,  at  the  very  least." 

"  All  the  same,  you  must  bear  in  mind,  my  dear  Lillywhite, 
that  now  Wilmot  is  dead  I  am  Mrs.  Lincoln's  sole  trustee, 
and  must  take  the  whole  responsibility  ;  and  really,  you  know, 
I  hardly  like  to  change  the  investment,  merely  to  oblige  old 
Hutchins  and  put  money  in  my  own  pocket." 

"  It  won't  be  merely  to  put  money  in  your  own  pocket. 
It  will  put  money  into  Mrs.  Lincoln's  pocket,  to  the  tune  of 
a  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty  pounds  a  year." 

"  The  Lincolns  are  so  rich,  Lillywhite,  that  they  think  less 
of  a  hundred  pounds  than  I  do  of  six  and  eightpence  ;  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  if  I  were  to  mention  it  to  Mrs.  Lincoln 
she  would  say — '  leave  the  money  where  it  is.  A  trustee 
cannot  be  too  particular  ;  and  my  position  is  all  the  more 
delicate  in  that  I  am  both  her  trustee  and  her  solicitor.  And 
so  long  as  I  keep  the  money  where  it  was  from  the  first, 
nobody  can  find  fault  with  me.  However,  I  will  think  about 
it,  and  look  at  the  trust  deed  again  before  deciding.  I  have 
not  read  it  for  years,  and  it  rather  runs  in  my  mind  that  I  am 
restricted  to  Consols." 

"  Tanfield  farm  is  quite  as  safe,  Mr.  Prince." 

"  Perhaps.  Anyhow  I  am  not  going  to  infringe  the  trusts 
of  the  settlement  either  to  make  business  for  the  office  or  to 
oblige  Mr.  Hutchins.  I  suppose  it  will  do  if  he  gets  his 
answer  next  week  ?  " 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


19 


"  Oh,  yes.  He  is  in  no  hurry ;  and  if  we  don't  find  him 
the  money  he  can  easily  get  it  elsewhere.  Anything  else,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  think  notj"  and  Mr.  Prince  turned  again  to  the  paper 
before  him. 

Lillywhite  took  this  as  a  sign  of  dismissal,  and  went  away 
greatly  dissatisfied  that  he  had  failed  to  find  out  the  cause 
of  Peploe's  visit,  and  the  nature  of  his  business.  He  liked 
to  know,  and  flattered  himself  that  he  did  know,  everything 
that  went  on  in  the  office,  and  a  good  deal  that  went  on  out- 
side. There  was  no  end  of  secrets  locked  up  in  that  long 
head  of  his  ;  never  before  had  his  employer  kept  anything 
from  him,  and,  considering  his  position  in  the  office  and 
his  many  years  of  faithful  service,  he  felt  that  he  was  being 
badly  used. 

What  did  it  all  mean  ?  Why  had  Peploe  come  all  the 
way  from  Liverpool  ?  What  had  passed  during  his  long 
interview  with  the  governor,  and,  above  all,  why  was  the 
governor  so  close  ?  For  years  there  had  not  been  a  difficult 
or  delicate  case  in  the  office  as  to  which  Mr.  Prince  had  not 
consulted  him,  and,  as  often  as  not,  taken  his  advice. 

"  Well,  if  he  won't  tell  me,  I  must  find  it  out  for  myself, 
he  thought.  "  I  must  find  it  out,  and  it  is  a  queer  case 
that  Andrew  Lillywhite  cannot  'bottom.'  " 


20  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SOWING     THE     WIND. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  day  Mr.  Prince  had  little 
leisure  for  thought.  Several  important  clients  called  ;  he  was 
sent  for  to  the  Town  Hall ;  the  second  post  brought  him  letters 
which  required  immediate  attention  ;  and  when  he  mounted 
his  nag  for  the  ride  home  the  clock  of  St.  Dunstan  was 
chiming  six. 

It  was  a  fine  evening.  The  park-like  country  before  him, 
with  its  sparkling  meads,  silvery  streams,  and  hedgerows 
white  with  hawthorn,  looked  exquisitely  beautiful.  Spring 
had  cast  her  magic  spell  over  the  land  ;  larks  were  carolling 
joyously  in  the  upper  air  ;  and  the  red  sun  was  dipping  slowly 
towards  the  empurpled  shades  of  the  distant  forest. 

But  all  these  sights  and  sounds,  all  this  glory  of  nature, 
were  lost  on  Leonard  Prince.  There  was  no  sunshine  in  his 
heart.  It  was  heavy  with  grief  and  pain.  For  the  first  time 
in  his  life  he  was  battling  in  deep  waters.  Never  before  had 
he  gone  home  reluctantly,  never  before  looked  forward  to 
meeting  his  wife  with  apprehension  and  fear. 

For  the  hundredth  time  he  asked  himself  how  he  should 
tell  her  the  evil  news,  tell  her  that  their  eldest  son  was  a 
forger,  thief,  and  a  fugitive  from  justice,  and  that  in  a  few 
days  his  shame  and  their  own  would  be  published  on  the 
house-tops  ?  And  how  would  she  bear  it — she  who  was  more 
sensitive  on  the  point  of  honor  than  himself,  whose  pride 
was  even  greater  than  his  own,  and  who  had  lavished  so  much 
love  and  tenderness  on  this  unworthy  boy  ? 

"  It  has  to  be  faced,"  he  murmured  ;  "  the  sooner  I  get  it 
over  the  better." 

So  soon  as  he  was  cleared  of  the  town  he  touched  Tommy 
with  his  heel,  and  the  gallant  little  horse  stepped  out  to  such 
purpose  that  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  he  was  at  the  Holm- 
croft  lodge-gates. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  TEELE.  21 

As  ISIr.  Prince  pulled  up  at  the  hall  door,  his  \vife  crossed 
the  lawn  with  a  bunch  of  freshly-gathered  flowers  in  her 
hand. 

"How  about  the  fishing?"  she  said,  smiling  pleasantly. 
"  I  thought  you  were  coming  home  early  to  try  for  some 
jack  !  " 

"  Fishing  !  Well,  do  you  know  I  forgot  all  about  it — never 
thought  of  it  since." 

"  You  have  been  busy,  then  ?  " 

"  All  day.  Every  minute  occupied.  Had  to  see  the  Mayor 
and  the  Watch  Committee  about  an  impending  lawsuit ;  long 
conference  with  Thornwood  touching  that  disputed  water- 
right,  and  I  don't  know  what  besides." 

"  You  look  fagged,  and  your  eyes  are  troubled.  You  are 
more  than  fagged,  you  are  worried.  What  is  it,  Leonard  t 
Nothing  has  gone  wrong,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,  Dorothy,  something  has  gone  very  wrong.  But  come 
into  my  room,  dear.  We  can  talk  there  more  at  our  ease, 
and  without  being  observed  or  overheard." 

He  led  the  way,  and  she  followed  him  in  silent  surprise. 
The  style  and  furnishing  of  Mr.  Prince's  room  were  in  har- 
mony with  its  owner's  tastes  and  pursuits.  On  the  writing- 
table  law  papers  neatly  tied  and  docketed,  on  the  walls 
trophies  of  the  chase,  and  engravings  of  celebrated  horses 
and  scenes  in  the  hunting-field  ;  fishing-rods  in  one  corner, 
a  gun  rack  in  another. 

Mr.  Prince  drew  up  a  chair  for  his  wife,  then  seated 
himself  by  her  side,  and  took  her  hand. 

All  this  preparation  and  the  gravity  of  her  husband's 
manner  naturally  alarmed  Mrs.  Prince. 

"  Good  heavens,  Leonard  !  "  she  gasped.  "  What  is  it  ? 
The  boys  !     Has Are  they  well  ?     Tell  me  quickly." 

"  I  believe  so.  I  have  heard  nothing  to  the  contrary. 
But  there  are  w^orse  things  than  not  being  well.  You  have 
high  courage  and  you  will  need  it." 

Mrs.  Prince  drew  a  deep  breath. 

"  Go  on,  please.  Don't  keep  me  in  suspense.  I  can 
bear  anything  but  that." 

"  You  remember  what  3'ou  said  this  morning  about  Jack, 
that  you  feared  he  was  going  wrong.  I  did  not  share  in  your 
fears.  But  you  were  right.  He  has  gone  wrong,  fearfully 
wrong " 


22  THE  nUXCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Oh,  Leonard  !     \A'hat  has  he  done?  " 

"  Robbed  his  employers  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  pounds 
and  absconded." 

Mrs.  Prince  neither  exclaimed  nor  turned  pale  ;  she  looked 
dazed  and  bewildered,  as  if  the  stroke  had  stunned  her,  and 
she  was  unable  to  grasp  the  full  significance  of  her  husband's 
words.  Then  drawing  a  long  breath,  and  putting  her 
hands  before  her  eyes  she  remained  silent  several  minutes. 
Mr,  Prince,  who  had  expected  a  scene,  watched  her  anxiously. 

"  Did  you  understand,  Dorothy  ?  "  he  said  at  length,  again 
taking  her  hand. 

"  Oh  yes,  I  understood,  perfectly.  This  boy  of  ours — the 
first  I  bore  you,  Leonard — this  boy  by  whom  we  set  such 
store,  whom  we  have  helped  so  generously  and  forgiven  so 
often,  has  played  the  thief,  and  will  engulfus  in  his  own  ruin. 
Is  this  all,  Leonard  ?  " 

"  All,  Dorothy  !  Good  God,  what  would  you  have  ?  Yes,  it 
is  all." 

"  He  has  not  been  arrested  .-'  " 

"  Not  yet." 

"  You  think  he  will  be,  then  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure.  Peploe  says  that  unless  I  can  find  fifteen 
thousand  pounds  within  the  next  five  or  six  days  they  will 
put  the  police  on  his  track,  and  if  they  do  the  odds  are  a 
thousand  to  one  against  his  escape." 

"  Tell  me  all  about  it." 

Mr.  Prince  told  her  of  Peploe's  visit  and  his  demand. 

"  The  money  must  be  found,  Leonard." 

"Must!  Must!"  he  said  bitterly,  "It  is  easy  to  say 
must.  But  how?  Tell  me  how?  You  know  that  I  have  not 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  in  the  world,  or  anything  like  it." 

"  Cannot  you  borrow  it  ?  " 

"  No.  What  security  can  I  offer  ?  The  bank  would  let 
me  have  two  or  three  thousand,  I  daresay,  but  that  would  be 
of  no  more  use  than  two  or  three  hundred.  These  people 
want  fifteen  thousand  by  next  Friday,  at  the  latest," 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  ?  " 

"  I  doubt  whether  Mr.  Lincoln  would  lend  me  a  thousand 
pounds,  rich  as  he  is,  and  he  starts  for  Liverpool  to-morrow 
morning,  eti  route  for  New  York.  I  don't  see  how  I  could 
raise  this  money  though  I  had  a  respite  of  six  months  instead 
of  six  days.     It  cannot  be  done,     I  wish  it  could." 


THE  riUXCES  OF  PEELE. 


-'3 


"  It  shall  be  done.  It  must  be  done.  .  .  ,  Have  I  been  a 
good  wife  to  you,  Leonard  Prince  .''  " 

"  Why  do  you  ask  so  strange  a  question,  Dorothy  }  You 
know  that  I  love  the  very  ground  you  tread  on." 

"  Have  I  been  a  good  mother  to  your  children  ? " 

"  Ask  them.     Even  Jack  ;  but  w^hy " 

"  Well,  I  would  rather  give  up  my  life,  I  w^ould  rather 
follow  you  to  the  grave,  I  would  rather  see  Jack  lying  dead 
at  my  feet  than  that  this  disgrace  should  befall  us.  Do  you 
realize  the  horror  of  it  ?  " 

"  To  the  full.  A  great  misfortune  has  come  upon  us,  and 
we  are  threatened  with  a  disaster  which  I  see  no  way  of 
averting." 

Mrs.  Prince  wrung  her  hands,  and  her  white  lips  twisted 
convulsively.  "  It  must  be  averted.  There  is  a  way,"  she 
exclaimed  wildly.  "You  are  a  man  of  business.  I  would  do 
anything,  anything.  If  you  love  me,  think  of  something,  for 
if  the  worst  happens  I  shall  either  die  or  go  mad." 

He  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand,  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  compose  himself,  and  obey  his  wife's  injunction  to  "  think 
of  something." 

When  he  looked  up  she  placed  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  You  have  thought  of  something,"  she  said  eagerly,  "  what 
is  it .'  " 

It  was  a  terrible  moment  for  Leonard  Prince,  He  had 
inherited  from  his  father  a  healthy  body,  a  sane  mind, 
and  a  nature  so  happily  organized  that  it  cost  him  no  effort 
to  do  right.  And  he  had  always  been  dominated  by  a  desire 
to  do  right.  Never  in  his  life  had  he  pal*^ered  with  his 
honor  or  abused  the  confidence  of  a  client,  nor  was  there  any 
class  of  men  for  whom  he  had  so  great  a  contempt  as  chicaning 
lawyers  and  defaulting  trustees.  He  w'as  a  strongman,  too, 
with  a  clear  head  and  a  rare  capacity  for  facing  and  over- 
coming difficulties.  But  there  was  a  weak  point  in  his 
armor — he  loved  his  wife  with  hardly  less  ardor  than  when 
they  were  first  wed — and  though  she  was  the  weaker  of  the 
two,  love  gave  her  a  power  over  him  which  he  was  unable  to 
withstand.  Left  to  himself,  or  less  passionately  entreated,  he 
would  never  have  thought  of  so  fatal  an  expedient  as  that 
which  had  occurred  to  him.  He  would  have  braved  the  storm 
and  lived  down  the  scandal  which  the  revelation  of  his  son's 
misconduct  would  have  caused.     But  with  that  pale,  drawn 


24  THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

face  bex'ore  him,  with  those  dear  beseeching  eyes  raised  to 
his  in  agonized  suspense  what  could  he  do,  how  help  himself  ? 

"  You  have  thought  of  something,"  she  repeated.  "  What 
is  it  ?     Tell  me,  Leonard.     Tell  me  at  once," 

"  I  have  thought  of  something,  only " 

"  What .?  " 

"  It  would  not  be  right." 

"But  what  is  it.?" 

Again  Mr.  Prince  hesitated,  and  then  slowly,  and  almost 
in  a  whisper,  as  if  he  feared  the  walls  might  hear  him,  he 
answered — 

"  It  is  this.  I  am  the  sole  surviving  trustee  under  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  marriage  settlement.  The  entire  fund,  fifteen 
thousand  pounds,  is  invested  in  Consols.  It  stands  in  my 
name,  and  I  could  turn  it  into  cash  within  twenty-four 
hours." 

"  Thank  God  !  Oh,  Leonard,  why  did  not  you  tell  me 
this  sooner?  It  would  have  saved  me — words  cannot  tell 
the  agony  it  would  have  saved  me." 

"  Because  I  did  not  think  of  it  sooner.  Remember  this  is 
not  my  money,  Dorothy." 

"  I  am  sure  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  lend  it  to  you." 

"  She  has  no  power  to  lend  it.  The  corpus,  the  principal, 
cannot  be  dealt  with  till  she  is  dead  and  her  youngest  child 
is  twenty-one.  Remember,  too,  that  my  position  is  very 
peculiar.  I  am  both  her  solicitor  and  her  trustee.  When 
Wilmot  died,  she  might  have  appointed  another  in  his  place. 
But  she  put  so  much  trust  in  me  that  she  would  not.  It  is 
owing  to  her  generous,  her  excessive  confidence,  that  I  have 
the  sole  control  of  the  fund,  and  if  I  were  to  use  it  for  my 
own  purposes,  what  would  she  think  of  me ;  what  should  I 
think  of  myself  ?  " 

"  I  would  not  wrong  Mrs.  Lincoln  for  the  world.  We 
should  pay  her  back  every  shilling,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Prince, 
impetuously.  "  Every  shilling  !  And  though  it  is  a  little 
irregular,  consider  the  alternative." 

"  I  have  considered  the  alternative  ;  and  as  for  reinstating 
the  fund,  that  would  not  be  so  easy  as  you  think.  Fifteen 
thousand  is  a  great  deal  of  money." 

"We  will  economize.  We  can  save  several  hundreds  a 
year  without  perceptibly  altering  our  style  of  living.  Edward 
is  keeping  himself ;  there  is  only  Charlie  on  our  hands,  and 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE.  25 

with  care  and  good  management  we  can  make  the  amount 
up  in  a  few  years." 

"  You  forget  one  thing,  Dorothy.  We  are  all  mortal,  and 
if  anything  should  happen  to  me,  you  and  the  boys  would  be 
in  a  terrible  difficulty.  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  then  be  obliged 
to  appoint  another  trustee,  and  exposure  and  disgrace  would 
be  inevitable.  You  would  have  to  confess  that  I  had  mis- 
appropriated the  trust  fund.     Everything  would  come  out." 

If  Mr.  Prince  thought  that  this  argument  would  induce  his 
wife  to  renounce  the  scheme  which  he  had  so  unfortunately 
suggested  he  was  mistaken. 

"  You  might  insure  your  life,  and  then  Mrs.  Lincoln  would 
be  safe  in  any  event,"  she  said  after  a  short  pause.  "  You 
will  do  it,  Leonard,  won't  you?  Say  you  will  do  it,  and 
relieve  me  from  this  dreadful  suspense.  It  is  to  save  the 
family  honor.  Where  should  we  hide  our  heads  if  it  were 
all  made  known,  and  Jack  put  on  his  trial.  You  said  only 
this  morning  that  it  would  break  your  heart  to  leave  Holm- 
croft.  For  my  sake  and  Edward's  and  Charles's,  if  not  for 
your  own,  you  will  do  it,  dear.  And  Jack  himself,  he  is  our 
own  boy,  after  all,  and  dear  to  me  still.  Think  of  him  under- 
going a  term  of  penal  servitude  !  It  would  be  his  ruin,  here 
and  hereafter.  Oh,  think  of  it !  Why  should  you  hesitate  ? 
While  you  live  the  money  will  be  at  your  disposal,  and  when 
you  die  it  will  be  paid  by  the  insurance — unless  we  save  it  in 
the  meantime — and  I  feel  sure  you  will  live  so  long  that  we 
shall.  You  are  not  an  old  man  yet.  You  will,  won't  you, 
dear?"  And  she  took  both  his  hands  in  hers,  and  looked  at 
him  pitifully  with  tear-filled  eyes. 

"Adam  and  Eve  over  again,"  thought  Mr.  Prince.  "  But 
it  is  my  own  fault ;  I  gave  her  the  idea. 

"  Very  well,  Dorothy,  it  shall  be  as  you  wish,"  he  said  sadly. 
"  I  only  hope  the  remedy  won't  prove  worse  than  the  disease." 

"  I  am  sure  it  won't,  Leonard.  Thank  Heaven  !  I  can 
breathe  now.  I  should  have  gone  mad.  You  will  insure  your 
life  ? " 

"  My  own  life  and  the  lads'  lives.  They  are  to  be  my 
partners  ;  and  it  is  a  common  thing  for  partners  to  insure 
each  other's  lives.  It  will  add  to  the  value  of  the  security. 
In  that  way  Mrs.  Lincoln  will,  as  you  say,  be  practically  as 
safe  as  if  the  money  remained  in  Consols,  provided,  of  course, 
I  keep  up  the  payment  of  the  premiums,  and  that  I  must  and 


26  THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

can  do,  though  it  will  come  very  heavy.  I  shall  try  to  make 
Peploe  and  Pope  pay  five  per  cent,  even  though  they  never 
repay  the  principal — and,  yes,  I  will  give  up  my  shooting  in 
Scotland.  I  can  easily  say  that  I  have  not  time  for  both  that 
and  hunting.  It  is  irregular,  very  irregular,  there  is  no  deny- 
ing that,  but  the  emergency  is  a  desperate  one,  and  if  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln does  not  suffer — and  with  the  arrangements  I  shall  make 
I  don't  see  how  she  can — we  shall  have  notjiing  much  to 
reproach  ourselves  with." 

This  was  rather  an  expression  of  hope  than  conviction  ; 
he  knew  that  if  anybody  else  had  done  what  he  was  proposing 
to  do  he  should  have  characterized  the  proceeding  by  a  very 
ugly  word,  and  though  he  was  trying  to  make  the  best  of  it, 
and  to  make  believe  that  no  harm  could  come  of  it,  he  had 
an  uneasy  feeling  that  harm  would  come  of  it  in  some  way  not 
then  apparent  either  to  himself  or  his  wife.  She,  however, 
had  no  misgivings.  Albeit  so  honest  that  she  would  not  have 
plucked  a  flower  in  Mrs.  Lincoln's  garden  without  asking  per- 
mission, it  did  not  seem  to  her  that  in  urging  her  husband  to 
take  that  lady's  money  and  use  it  for  his  own  purpose,  with- 
out her  knowledge,  she  had  done  anything  reprehensible. 
Leonard  was  merely  borrowing  it,  she  argued  ;  the  measures 
he  was  taking  would  ensure  its  eventual  repayment,  and  all 
would  be  well. 

"  When  will  you  send  the  money  to  Liverpool  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  shall  not  send  it — I  shall  take  it.  I  must  have  a 
thorough  understanding  with  Messrs.  Peploe  and  Pope,  and 
if  possible,  get  some  security  from  them  before  I  part  with 
any  money." 

"  But  suppose  they  have  Jack  arrested  before  you  get 
there  ?  " 

"  I  shall  telegraph  them  in  the  morning  that  I  am  coming." 

"  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  him,  Leonard  .-•  Where 
can  he  be  ?  " 

"  That  does  not  concern  me  at  present.  I  only  hope  he  is 
far  enough,  and  that  we  may  hear  nothing  of  him  again  for  a 
long  time — if  ever." 

"  Oh,  Leonard  !  you  hope  never  to  hear  of  Jack  again  ! 
Why  ?  " 

"  Because  we  are  not  likely  to  hear  any  good  of  him.  When 
a  man  goes  so  utterly  to  the  bad  as  he  has  done,  he  is  gener- 
ally past  praying  for.     Before  this  last  affair  I  had  more  faith 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  27 

in  him  tlian  you  had  ;  now  I  have  none  whatever.  The  best 
thing  for  him  to  do,  though  I  doubt  whether  he  will  have  the 
sense  and  resolution  to  do  it,  is  to  go  to  America  or  one  of 
the  colonies,  begin  a  new  career,  earn  an  honest  livelihood, 
and  stay  there  until  his  misdeeds  are  forgotten.  I  hope  it 
won't  turn  out  that  he  has  victimized  other  people  besides 
Peploe  and  Pope." 

"  God  forbid,  Leonard  !     Why  should  you  think  so  .''  " 

"  Because  a  man  who  is  capable  of  robbing  his  employers 
and  deceiving  his  parents  is  capable  of  anything.  It  is  one 
of  the  points  I  must  inquire  about  when  I  am  at  Liverpool." 

"  Will  you  tell  the  boys  ?  " 

"  Not  Charlie — except  that  Jack  has  behaved  badly  and 
gone  away,  we  know  not  whither,  and  the  less  that  is  said 
about  him  the  better.     But  Edward  must  know  everything." 

"  Why  Edward  and  not  Charlie  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  need  to  lay  on  the  lad's  shoulders  so  heavy 
a  burden.  Let  him  enjoy  his  life  while  he  is  young.  But 
either  Edward  or  Lillywhite  must  know,  and  faithful  though 
Lill)avhite  is,  I  don't  want  to  put  myself  in  his  power.  I  shall 
have  to  deal  with  Peploe  and  Pope  on  the  one  hand  and  Mrs. 
Lincoln  on  the  other.  Her  dividends  will  have  to  be  paid 
just  as  if  the  trust  fund  was  still  invested  in  Consols,  the  in- 
terest from  Peploe  and  Pope  will  have  to  be  collected  as  may 
be  arranged,  and  the  insurance  premiums  regularly  paid. 
All  this  must  be  done  without  hitch  and  unknown  to  every- 
body in  the  office  but  ourselves.  It  is  only  by  taking  Edward 
into  my  confidence  that  I  can  make  sure  that  in  the  event  of 
m}^  illness  or  absence  there  will  be  no  difiiculty,  for  a  hitch 
might  be  fatal.  And  Ned  has  an  old  head  on  young 
shoulders." 

"  Yes,  Edward  is  very  good.  But  all  this  is  very,  very  sad. 
Oh,  Leonard,"  said  Mrs.  Prince,  sighing  deeply,  "shall  v^^e 
ever  know  content  again  .?  " 

"  We  may.  Anyhow,  I  know  people  who  have  very  ugly 
skeletons  in  their  cupboards,  and  yet  laugh  and  joke,  dine 
with  appetite,  and  ride  as  merrily  to  hounds  as  if  they  had 
nothing  on  their  minds.  Use  is  second  nature,  they  say  ; 
and  we  shall  perhaps  get  so  used  to  our  particular  skeleton 
that  its  presence  in  the  cupboard  won't  trouble  us — very 
much." 

This  assurance,  though  it  may  have  answered  its  intended 


28  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

purpose  of  comforting  Mrs.  Prince,  neither  allayed  her  hus- 
band's apprehensions  nor  quieted  his  conscience.  No 
amount  of  sophistry  could  reconcile  his  trained  intelligence 
and  essentially  upright  mind  to  the  gross  breach  of  trust 
which  he  contemplated,  or  render  him  oblivious  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  about  to  lay  on  his  soul  a  burden  of  which  only 
death  could  relieve  him.  But  the  alternative :  a  broken- 
hearted wife,  a  frightful  scandal,  and  a  convict  son,  had 
even  greater  terrors,  and  he  chose,  as  he  thought,  the  lesser 
evil. 

On  the  following  day,  after  telling  Lillywhite  that  he  had 
decided  to  decline  Hutchins'  proposed  mortgage,  Mr.  Prince 
went  to  London,  and  thence  to  Liverpool,  where  he  arranged 
matters  with  Peploe  and  Pope  as  satisfactorily  as  so  bad  a 
business  could  be  arranged.  Shortly  afterwards,  however, 
what  he  had  feared  came  to  pass.  It  was  discovered  that  Jack 
had  not  confined  his  depredations  to  his  employers.  He  had 
discounted  a  forged  bill  with  his  private  bankers.  But  as 
there  was  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  left  the  country  for 
parts  unknown,  the  bankers  decided  not  to  throw  good  money 
after  bad  by  trying  to  hunt  him  down.  Nevertheless,  they 
were  very  wroth,  declined  an  offer  from  Mr.  Prince  to  make 
the  amount  good,  and  intimated  that  in  the  event  of  the  cul- 
prit returning  to  England  they  should  consider  it  their  duty 
to  prosecute  him. 

But  none  of  these  things  oozed  out  at  Peele.  The  people 
of  that  rather  sleepy  old  town  were  quite  satisfied  with  the 
only  explanation  which  the  Princes  vouchsafed  to  them  : 
that  Jack,  having  got  into  debt  and  lost  his  billet  at  Liver- 
pool, had  betaken  himself  to  America,  there  to  make  a  fresh 
start. 


THE  PKIiYCES  OF  PEELE. 


29 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  BROTHERS. 

One  of  the  last  days  of  October,  a  still  air  and  a  dappled 
sky,  a  veil  of  silver  mist  mellowing  yet  not  obscuring  the 
sunlight,  two  horsemen  riding  along  a  deep  lane,  over- 
shadowed by  trees,  from  whose  half  nude  branches  russet- 
colored  leaves,  heavy  with  dew,  are  falling  noiselessly  to 
their  mother  earth. 

The  two  men  wear  costumes  suitable  either  for  road  or  field 
— breeches,  leggings,  gray  coats,  and  felt  hats — one  has  spurs 
but  no  hunting  crop,  the  other  a  hunting  crop  but  no  spurs. 

The  rider  with  spurs  is  three  or  four  years  under  thirty — 
tall,  slightly  built,  swarthy  and  clean  shaven.  He  has  dark 
intelligent  eyes  and  good  looks,  but  his  skin  is  sallow,  his 
face  that  of  a  man  who  does  not  live  much  in  the  open  air. 

His  companion,  younger  by  several  years,  and  not  quite 
so  tall,  has  laughing  brow)i  eyes,  brown  hair,  and  a  brown  face, 
to  which  a  silky  moustache  with  naturally  curled  points  gives 
a  somewhat  rakish,  devil-may-care  air. 

This  young  fellow  is  Charlie  Prince  ;  the  other,  Edward — 
generally  called  "  Ned  "  by  his  family  and  familiar  friends. 

"  Do  you  expect  any  sport  to-day  t "  asked  the  elder 
brother. 

"  Not  much,  but  we  shall  at  any  rate  have  the  pleasure  of 
riding  about  in  the  forest,  which  is  never  so  beautiful  as  at 
this  time.  I  would  rather  go  with  the  foxhounds,  of  course. 
But  regular  hunting  hasn't  begun  yet,  and  this  week's  cubbing 
fixtures  are  all  long  ones.  You  can  never  tell  what  may 
happen  with  Mr.  Vayle's  harriers.  This  should  be  a  good 
scenting-day,  and  if  we  have  the  luck  to  find  a  straight  run- 
ning fox " 

"  A  fox." 

"  Why  not  ?  The  foxhounds  always  fight  shy  of  the 
forest — if  they  once  get  in  they  never  get  out — and  if  the 


30  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

harriers  chance  to  rouse  a  long  tail  they  will  do  good  service 
by  running  him.  Last  season  we  found  a  fox  in  Silverwood. 
Spinney  ran  him " 

"  Spare  me,  Charlie,"  interrupted  Edward  with  a  laugh, 
*'  It  is  a  thrice-told  tale.  The  day  we  dined  at  Cherry-Tree 
Hall  that  run  was  discussed  a  full  hour  by  the  clock.  And 
do  not  imagine  that  I  am  pining  for  an  heroic  run.  I  am  not 
a  keen  sportsman  like  you  and  father  ;  and  I  have  ridden  so 
little  lately  that  I  should  be  all  abrasions.  I  shall  be  quite 
content  with  a  little  tittuping  through  the  rides,  or  a  canter 
across  Thornwood  Plain — if  by  good  fortune  we  do  get  into 
the  open — and  whatever  happens,  I  shall  leave  off  in  good 
time.  I  must  do  two  or  three  hours'  work  at  the  office 
before  dinner  ;  and  to-morrow  I  may  have  to  go  to  town." 

"  In  re  Lyman,  Lincoln,  and  Jump  ?  " 

"  Of  course." 

"  I  say,  what  a  fine  pot-boiler  that  case  is  proving  for  the 
office.  It  would  almost  keep  us  going,  though  there  was 
nothing  else.  Is  there  any  likelihood  of  its  being  settled,  do 
you  think  ?  " 

"  Not  the  least,  I  should  say.  There  is  a  big  estate  ;  the 
partners  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  are  all  at  sixes  and  sevens,  and 
you  may  be  sure  the  lawyers  won't  let  them  settle  until  they 
have  had  a  lot  more  picking  out  of  it." 

"  The  pater  advised  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  settle,  though,  didn't 
he  ? — if  she  had  a  chance." 

"  Yes,  the  pater  always  advises  his  clients  honestly,  some- 
times against  his  own  interests.  But  the  partners  are  com- 
bative and  won't  listen  to  reason.  Litigants  seldom  do  listen 
to  reason.  If  they  did  we  lawyers  should  lose  our  reason 
for  being.  And  a  friendly  settlement  is  out  of  the  question 
now,  whatever  it  may  have  been  a  little  while  ago.  Suits 
are  going  on  both  here  and  in  America." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  And-  that  reminds  me  that  I  have  a 
question  to  ask  you.  Has  anything  been  heard  of  Jack  ? 
I  am  aware  it  is  a  tabooed  subject,  and  I  should  not  think 
of  mentioning  it  to  father  or  mother.  All  the  same,  he  and  I 
were  very  good  friends — though  after  I  went  to  Marlborough 
I  saw  very  little  of  him — and  I  cannot  help  wondering  what 
has  become  of  him.     Poor  old  Jack." 

"  You  need  not  waste  your  pity  on  him,  Charlie.  He  is 
not  worthy  of  it.     Jack  behaved  very  badly." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  3 1 

"  You  mean  he  was  always  getting  into  scrapes." 

"  Always.  And  he  gave  father  and  mother  no  end  of 
trouble.  At  first  they  thought  it  was  all  boyishness  and  high 
spirits,  and  that  he  would  steady  as  he  grew  older.  But  the 
last  thing  he  did  was  the  worst." 

"  Running  away  from  Liverpool  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  before  running  away  he  ran  heavily  into  debt, 
and  it  cost  the  pater  no  end  of  money  to  put  things  straight 
— this  is  entirely  between  ourselves,  Charlie — and  if  you  add 
to  that  what  it  cost  when  he  went  wrong  at  Cambridge  it 
comes  to  a  nice  penny." 

"  Bad  enough,  in  all  conscience.  All  the  same,  there  are 
worse  things  than  running  into  debt,  and  I  don't  quite 
see " 

"Jack  did  worse.  It  was  not  merely  getting  into  debt, 
though  in  his  case  there  was  not  a  shadow  of  excuse.  Just 
consider  !  When  he  came  back  from  Australia,  penniless, 
he  was  kindly  treated  and  freely  forgiven.  Father  found  him 
a  good  place  in  Liverpool,  where  he  might  have  done  well. 
But  almost  from  the  first,  as  we  afterwards  ascertained,  he 
went  to  the  bad,  and  worse  still,  played  the  hypocrite.  He 
hoodwinked  his  employers  completely,  made  them  believe  he 
was  as  steady  as  a  growing  tree,  and  wrote  letters  home,  tell- 
ing how  well  he  was  doing.  Then,  when  exposure  became 
inevitable,  he  just  disappeared  without  writing  a  line  to  any 
of  us  to  say  he  was  sorry,  and  left  father  to  pay  the  piper. 
And  naught  has  been  heard  from  him  or  of  him  since,  \^'hat 
could  be  worse  than  that,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  As  bad  as  that,  was  it  ?  No  wonder  father  won't  talk 
about  it,  and  hasn't  been  the  same  man  since." 

"  Who  says  he  has  not  been  the  same  man  since  ?  "  asked 
Edward  sharply. 

"  Isn't  it  evident  ?  And  Lillywhite  was  saying  so  only  the 
other  day." 

"  So  it  was  Lillywhite  that  gave  you  the  idea.  Did  he  say 
anything  about  Jack  ?  " 

"  He  merely  asked  whether  anything  had  been  heard  of 
him!" 

"  I  wish  Lillywhite  would  mind  his  own  business.  And 
you  are  both  wrong.  I  don't  think  father  has  altered  in  the 
least,  except  in  being  three  years  older,  and  he  is  still  one  of 
the  most  active  men  for  his  ase  that  I  know." 


32 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


In  making  this  assertion  Edward  spoke  rather  diplomati- 
cally than  truthfully.  Leonard  Prince  had  not  been  the  same 
man  since  the  disappearance  of  his  eldest  son.  His  hope 
that  he  should  get  used  to  the  skeleton  in  the  cupboard  had 
only  been  realized  in  part.  The  deceit  which  he  was  obliged 
to  practice  fretted  him,  a  deceit  of  which  he  was  reminded 
every  time  he  paid  Mrs.  Lincoln  her  dividends,  every  time 
he  remitted  the  Assurance  Company  the  premiums  on  his  life 
policies,  and  every  time  he  received  a  check  or  a  "  put  off" 
from  Peploe  and  Pope.  Then,  again,  the  sense  of  the  heavy 
pecuniary  liability  which  he  had  assumed,  and  the  fear,  never 
long  absent  from  his  thoughts,  that  the  fraud  might  be  dis- 
covered when  he  was  least  expecting  it,  weighed  on  his  mind 
and  damped  his  naturally  high  spirits.  He  gave  more  time  to 
business  and  less  to  sport,  rode  less  boldly  to  hounds  and 
seldom  went  from  home — never  when  Edward  was  away. 
His  friends  ascribed  these  changes  to  increasing  years,  and 
as  he  always  contrived  to  be  cheerful  at  home  they  passed 
almost  unobserved  by  his  wife.  And  then  there  came  to  pass 
an  event  which  by  adding  to  Mr.  Prince's  professional  en- 
gagements made  his  personal  anxieties  easier  to  bear. 

This  was  the  death  of  his  friend  and  neighbor,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
on  which,  for  some  doubtless  sufficient  yet  not  very  ap- 
parent reason,  his  partners  fell  out  amongst  themselves  and 
went  to  law.  Mrs.  Lincoln  being  compelled  in  self-defence 
to  join  in  the  fray,  the  proceedings  on  her  behalf  were  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Prince,  who  entrusted  the  active  management 
of  the  suit  (which  speedily  drifted  into  Chancery)  to  Edward, 
and  as  the  interests  at  stake  were  important,  and  frequent 
consultations  with  counsel  necessary,  the  young  man  had  to 
spend  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  London. 

We  may  now  return  to  the  two  brothers. 

"  Which  way  are  we  going }  "  asked  Edward,  as  they  came 
to  a  place  where  three  roads  met. 

"  By  Wroughton  Shaughs,  of  course.  It  will  save  us  a 
mile  and  a  half  at  least." 

"  How  about  the  gates,  though." 

*'  I  have  not  been  this  way  since  last  season,  but  now  that 
hunting  is  beginning,  they  are  sure  to  be  open." 

Turning  from  the  high-road  into  a  narrow  lane,  they  went 
on  until  they  came  to  a  gate  leading  into  a  bridle-path. 

"  Let  me,  I  rather  like  opening  gates,"  said  Charlie. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  33 

Edward  made  no  objection  ;  he  did  not  like  opening  gates. 
But  Charlie  found  the  task  more  difficult  than  he  had  ex- 
pected. His  mare  would  not  be  still,  and  the  gate,  though 
unlocked,  was  ingeniously  fastened  with  a  chain,  a  ring,  a 
staple,  and  a  hook. 

"  Get  off,"  said  Edward. 

"  No,  thank  you.  I  never  get  off  to  open  a  gate,  and  if 
there  were  not  so  many  broken  stones  on  the  road " 

"Allow  me,  sir,"  said  a  wayfarer,  who,  while  Charlie  was 
struggling  with  the  gate,  had  come  up  unperceived  ;  "  allow 
me,  sir,"  and  with  that  the  wayfarer  loosed  the  chain  and 
drew  back  the  gate. 

He  was  a  particularly  disreputable-looking  tramp,  with  a 
grim,  unshaven  face,  a  patch  over  one  eye,  and  nothing  much 
on  but  a  sailor's  jumper  and  a  pair  of  ragged  trousers. 

•'  Thank  you.     I  say,  Ned,  have  you  any  coppers  ?  " 

Ned  answered  "  No,"  and  rode  on,  without  giving  the 
tramp  a  second  glance. 

"  Well,  there's  a  sixpence  for  you.  And,  look  here  ;  would 
you  mind  letting  out  that  curb  chain  a  link,  while  I  light  a 
cigar  ?  " 

The  tramp  tooked  at  the  cigar  longingly. 

"  God  bless  you,  sir,"  he  said,  "  but  might  I  make  so  bold 
as  to  ask  if  you  have  a  bit  o'  baccy  about  you.  I  have  not 
had  a.  smoke  for  twenty-four  hours  (producing  a  short  clay 
pipe),  nor  yet  broken  my  fast." 

"  Poor  fellow !  Here  are  a  couple  of  cigars ;  and  take 
this  shilling  and  go  and  get  a  good  meal.  Go  at  once  !  "  and 
Charlie,  touching  his  horse  with  his  heel,  cantered  off. 

But  the  tramp  did  not  go  at  once.  He  lighted  one  of  the 
cigars,  and  as  he  smoked  it  leaned  on  the  gate  and  looked 
after  the  two  horsemen. 

"  That's  Charlie,"  he  soliloquized.  "  The  same  kind- 
hearted,  generous  lad,  he  always  was.  How  he  has  altered ! 
If  he  hadn't  been  with  Ned  I  shouldn't  have  known  him. 
No  wonder  he  did  not  know  me.  And  Ned — but  he  hardly 
so  much  as  looked  my  way.  He  is  too  superior  a  person  to 
notice  a  poor  devil  of  a  tramp — and  we  were  never  real 
friends.  Anyhow,  I  need  expect  no  help  from  him.  But  the 
old  man  would  give  me  a  lift,  if  he  knew — or  Charlie.  To 
which  of  them  shall  I  apply,  and  how  ?  A  few  pounds — just 
enough  to  take  me  to  London  and  buy  me  a  kit.  .  .  .     But 

3 


34  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

it  would  never  do  to  go  to  the  house  any  more  than  for  Charlie 
to  come  to  me  at  a  boozing  ken.  And  whatever  I  do  1  must 
keep  close.  There  are  constables  at  Peele,  and  some  fellow 
might — by  God  !  my  back  tingles  at  the  mere  idea.  .  .  . 
I  have  it — a  note  !  Yes,  I  think  I  can  fake  a  scribble  that 
will  fetch  him — and  without  exciting  suspicion  either.  And 
now  for  some  grub  ;  and  it  shall  be  a  skinful.  I  have  not 
had  so  much  money  in  my  pocket  since  I  left  Colchester." 

"  What  did  you  give  that  fellow  ?  "  asked  Edward,  when 
Charlie  came  up  with  him. 

"  Eighteen  pence  and  two  cigars." 

"  Eighteen  pence  and  two  cigars  !  Say  two  shillings — 
nearly  as  much  as  a  laborer  in  these  parts  earns  by  a  day  of 
honest    work — and  for  opening  a  gate  !  " 

"  He  was  starving." 

"  How  do  you  know  ? " 

"  He  said  so — and  he  looks  it." 

"  Of  course  he  said  so — tramps  always  do — yet  I'll  be 
bound  the  rascal  has  as  much  money  in  his  pocket  as  you 
have.     I  never  give  anything  to  beggars — on  principle." 

"And  deuced  little  to  anybody  else — also  on  principle," 
said  the  other  sotto  voce. 

"  You  have  been  taken  in,  my  boy,  and  not  for  the  first 
time.  You  are  too  impulsive.  If  you  give  to  everybody 
who  pleads  poverty  you  will  end  by  being  poor  your- 
self !  " 

Charlie,  irritated  by  his  brother's  reproof  and  painfully 
conscious  that  he  had  acted  impulsively  and,  in  ^1  probabil- 
ity, been  victimized  by  an  impostor,  held  his  peace. 

After  passing  through  two  more  gates,  that  were  easily 
opened,  they  crossed  a  big  field  and  came  to  yet  another  gate 
armed  with  spikes  which  opened,  or  rather  should  have 
opened,  into  a  grassy  lane. 

On  one  side  of  this  gate  and  nearly  as  high  was  a  stiff 
flight  of  posts  and  rails. 

"  It  is  not  locked,  I  hope,"  said  Edward. 

"Worse,  it  is  nailed." 

"  By  Jove  !     We  shall  have  to  go  back,  then." 

"  That  would  be  two  miles  out  of  our  way  and  throw  us 
late  for  the  meet.  We  can  jump  this  rail ;  there  is  turf  on 
both  sides." 

"  In  cold  blood,  and  that  drop  !     Not  if  I  know  it." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  35 

"  Merry  Boy  will  do  it  easily.  Come,  I'll  give  you  a  lead. 
Kitty  likes  a  bit  of  timber." 

The  next  moment  Charlie  was  over.  Edward,  who,  though 
a  fair  horseman,  was  not  a  bold  rider,  did  not  seem  to  like  it, 
but  liking  still  less  to  turn  tail  he  let  Merry  Boy  follow,  and 
albeit  the  old  horse  hit  the  top  rail  with  his  hind  legs,  he 
alighted  safely  in  the  lane,  round  a  bend  of  which  Charlie  had 
already  disappeared. 

"  God  bless  me,  another  gate  !  "  exclaimed  Edward,  as  he 
turned  into  the  road.     "  Nailed  up,  of  course." 

"  Also  locked,"  said  Charlie,  coolly,  at  the  same  time  back- 
ing his  horse. 

"  Good  heavens  !  you  are  surely  not  going  to  jump  it !  It's 
a  foot  higher  than  the  other,  and  as  strong  as  a  brick  wall. 
If  Kitty  hits  it  with  her  fore-legs  she  will  turn  a  somersault 
and  break  your  neck  and  her  own  back." 

"  There  is  nothing  else  for  it.  We  cannot  jump  the  rails 
from  this  side  :  the  drop  is  too  big." 

"  Nothing  else  for  it !  I  would  rather  wait  here  all  day. 
Why  on  earth  you  came  this  way  I  cannot  imagine.  We  had 
far  better  have  gone  round  by  the  road." 

"  It  is  a  regular  bridle-path.  How  could  I  know  that  the 
rascally  old  farmer  had  hung  new  gates  and  nailed  them 
up?  " 

"  What  shall  we  do,  then  .?  I  have  it !  One  of  us  must 
run  to  Oxbridge  for  a  blacksmith,  or  a  hammer  or  some- 
thing, while  the  other  waits  here.  You  are  the  better  run- 
ner  " 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that.  Would  not  it  be  fairer  if  we 
tossed  up  ?  "  returned  Charlie,  laughing.  The  reproof  was  still 
rankling  in  his  mind,  and  Ned's  discomfiture  amused  him. 
"  However,  I  think  we  can  do  better  than  that.  We  must 
make   a  circumbendibus  and  do  the  fence." 

"  What  are  you  thinking  about  ?     It  is  impossible  ! " 

It  certainly  looked  so.  The  fence  was  a  high  bank,  topped 
by  an  impenetrable  blackthorn  hedge,  and  with  a  ditch  on 
both  sides. 

"  I  think,  though,  I  noticed  a  practicable  place  in  that 
corner,"  said  Charlie,  turning  his  horse  round. 

At  the  corner  in  question  the  fence  turned  at  almost  right 
angles,  and  the  blackthorn  hedge  was  weaker,  and  the  ditch 
narrower  than  elsewhere. 


36  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  This  will  do.  You  go  first,  Ned,  and  make  a  gap  for 
me  and  Ki,tty.  It  is  just  the  sort  of  place  old  Merry  Boy 
likes.  He  is  as  clever  as  a  cat,  and  Kitty  is  such  a  beggar 
to  rush.  As  likely  as  not  she  would  go  slap  into  the  thickest 
part  and  stick  fast." 

"  It  is  the  most  beastly  place  I  ever  saw.  No,  thank  you, 
I  prefer  to  play  second  fiddle  on  the  present  occasion.  You 
go  first." 

"  Certainly,  if  you  will  let  me  ride  Merry  Boy.  But  why 
not  lead  him  over  ?     You  go  on  ;  I'll  send  him  after  you." 

"  A  happy  thought,  I'll  act  on  it  at  once,"  replied  Ned, 
dismounting  with  great  alacrity. 

"  But  hold  him  till  I  climb  the  bank.  I  don't  want  to  be 
jumped  upon." 

"  All  right !  Go  ahead  !  Say  when  you  are  ready  to  catch 
him." 

"  Now  !  "  shouted  Edward  as  he  disappeared  on  the  further 
side  of  the  fence. 

Charlie,  dropping  the  bridle,  gave  Merry  Boy  a  touch  with 
his  whip,  whereupon  the  old  hunter  sprang  over  the  ditch, 
scrambled  up  the  bank  and  pushed  through  the  gap,  which 
he  greatly  widened.  But  Edward  somehow  missed  catching 
him,  and  the  next  moment  Merry  Boy  was  justifying  his  name 
by  cantering  merrily  round  the  field. 

Meanwhile,  Kitty  was  dancing  about  on  her  hind  legs  and 
Charlie  vainly  trying  to  make  her  take  the  jump  quietly.  In 
the  end  he  was  obliged  to  let  her  take  it  as  she  liked,  with  a 
rush  that  carried  her  triumphantly  over  the  ditch,  and  through 
the  gap,  only  to  fall  ignominiously  on  her  head  in  the  field 
beyond. 

"  Serve  you  right,  you  impetuous  hussy !  "  said  the  young 
fellow  as  he  scrambled  to  his  feet.  "  You'll  not  be  in  such  a 
hurry  next  time." 

And  with  that  he  remounted  and  galloped  after  Merry  Bo}^ 
whom  Edward  was  vainly  trying  to  catch.  But  the  old  horse 
yielded  himself  a  willing  captive  to  Charlie,  who  held  him 
while  his  brother  "got  up." 

"  Call  this  a  short  cut !  "  said  Edward,  as  soon  as  he  could 
speak.  "  Call  this  a  short  cut !  It  is  a  cut  I  shall  cut  no 
more,  I  can  tell  you.  I  would  rather  go  five  miles  round 
any  day." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


37 


"  Oh,  it  is  good  fun,  and  all  in  the  day's  work,"  returned 
the  other,  laughing. 

"  Fun !  A  fig  for  such  fun  !  "  exclaimed  Ned  in  a  tone  of 
deep  disgust. 

After  this  they  had  no  further  trouble.  An  easy  jump 
over  some  sheep  hurdles  and  a  ten  minutes'  trot  brought 
them  within  sight  of  Cobster  Green, 


38  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MEET. 

"  There  they  are  ;  we  are  just  in  time,"  said  Charlie,  point- 
ing to  the  hounds,  which  were  gamboling  in  a  grassy  glade, 
while  the  huntsman  and  whip  stood  guard  over  them.  The 
horsemen  on  the  ground  did  not  exceed  a  dozen,  for  the 
Master  detested  a  big  field — unless  the  fair  element  greatly 
preponderated — only  one  degree  less  than  a  blank  day. 
Though  his  hard  riding  days  were  over,  Mr.  Vayle  sat  his  bob- 
tailed  gray  like  a  centaur,  and  was  as  keen  a  Nimrod  as  when 
he  first  carried  a  horn  half  a  century  before.  Near  him  rode 
a  young  girl,  to  whom  he  paid  great  attention,  for  Mr.  Vayle 
was  still  a  gay  cavalier  and,  as  was  said,  could  refuse  nothing 
to  fair  ladies  who  favored  him  with  their  company  and  ad- 
mired the  forest  which  he  so  dearly  loved,  and  of  which  he 
knew  every  nook  and  corner,  and  almost  every  tree.  Among 
his  other  peculiarities  was  a  habit  of  saying,  quite  uncon- 
sciously and  irrelevantly,  "  Dear  me  !  Dear  me  !  "  and  speak- 
ing his  thoughts  in  a  soft  (and  fortunately  generally  inaudi- 
ble) undertone. 

The  name  of  the  young  girl  was  Olive  Lincoln  ;  her  years 
were  about  seventeen.  As  touching  her  person  she  was 
slim  and  well-shapen,  slightly  built,  and  rather  tall  than  short. 
She  had  a  fair,  soft  skin,  peach-like  cheeks,  clearly-cut  features 
(nose  a  little  retrousse),  dark  hair,  and  large  violet  eyes, 
with  long  lashes,  which  were  merry,  mischievous  or  tender 
as  the  humor  took  her. 

As  touching  her  costume,  Olive  wore  a  dark-green  habit 
and  a  jockey  cap,  which  became  her  to  admiration,  and  she 
rode  a  corkey  blood  cob,  hardly  less  good-looking  and  high- 
spirited  than  herself. 

"We  are  rather  late,  I  fear,"  said  Edward,  after  his  brother 
and  himself  had  greeted  Miss  Lincoln  and  the  Squire.  "  I 
hope  you  have  not  been  waiting  for  us." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  39 

"  No,  indeed,  I  have  not.  I  never  quarrel  with  people  for 
not  coming,  and  I  am  like  time  and  tide,  I  wait  for  no  man. 
(Dear  me  !  dear  me  !  what  a  conceit  that  young  man  must 
have  of  himself)." 

Miss  Lincoln,  who  alone  heard  Mr.  Vayle's  "  aside," 
laughed  merrily. 

"  The  Squire  means  that  he  waits  only  for  ladies,  Mr. 
Edward,"  she  said.  "  He  would  not  wait  for  you  though  you 
were  really  a  prince.  We  are  waiting  for  ladies  now — Mary 
Windle  and  Kate  Convers,  and  the  Spankaway  girls." 

"  There  they  come  down  the  Earl's  Path,"  said  Charlie, 
who  had  sharp  eyes  and  kept  them  open. 

"  That  is  right.  I  am  glad  of  it,"  observed  the  Squire. 
"  They  will  be  here  in  two  minutes.  We  will  draw  Earl's 
Wood,  Horner." 

The  huntsman  (a  stout,  short-legged  old  fellow  mounted 
on  a  horse  the  right  color  for  a  hearse  and  big  enough  to 
draw  one  with  a  coffin  inside)  blew  his  horn  and  trotted  off, 
followed  by  the  pack.  Next  came  Bill  the  whip,  who  rode  a 
common-looking  yet  marvellously  clever  bay  cob,  whose  name, 
"  Noah's  Ark,"  had  been  bestowed  upon  him  because  he  was 
considered  eminently  safe  and  never  shirked  water. 

Mr.  Vayle  (who  possessed  a  sense  of  humor)  had  chris- 
tened Horner's  horse  "  Pagan,"  partly  on  account  of  his 
color,  but  chiefly  because  nobody  had  ever  seen  him  on  his 
knees.  When  he  did  fall  at  a  fence  it  was  always  backwards, 
which  was  very  convenient  for  Horner,  who  (being  fat  and 
heavy)  found  it  much  pleasanter  to  slip  over  the  animal's  tail 
than  come  a  "  cropper  "  over  his  head. 

Earl's  Wood  was  reached  in  a  few  minutes,  and  the  hounds 
(all  small  foxhounds)  were  no  sooner  thrown  in  than  their 
eager  cries  proclaimed  that  "  something  was  afoot."  Said 
something  proved  to  be  a  hare,  which  gave  a  very  fair  half- 
hour's  run  in  the  wood  and  out  of  it.  Edward  Prince  got 
his  gentle  tittuping,  the  girls  had  "  good  fun  "  jumping  the 
drains  and  dodging  the  trees  ;  and  when  the  hare  was  killed 
the  old  Squire  dismounted  from  his  bobtailed  gray,  waved 
his  hat  and  shouted  "  Whoo-whoop  "  with  the  best. 

While  this  was  going  on,  Charlie  had  spoken  to  the  hunts- 
man, and  a  forest-keeper,  who  was  watching  the  sport,  and 
made  a  confidential  communication  to  Miss  Lincoln,  which 
bore  fruit  later  on. 


40  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Where  shall  we  try  now  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Vayle. 

"  Let  us  try  the  Warren,"  said  Olive. 

"  Why  the  Warren  ?  " 

"  We  may  find  a  fox  there.  The  keeper  saw  one  only  this 
morning." 

"  Oh,  that  is  it,  is  it  ?  And  would  you  really  like  us  to  find 
a  fox?" 

"  So  much  ;  and  so  would  Mary  Windle  and  Kate  Conyers, 
would  not  you,  girls  ?  " 

"  So  much  !  "  echoed  the  young  women  in  question.  "  Do 
draw  the  Warren,  Mr.  Vayle." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  we  must.  Dear  me  !  Dear  me  !  What 
do  you  say,  Horner  } " 

"  I'm  willing,  sir.  If  we  don't  find  a  long-tail  we  shall, 
mebbe,  find  a  hare,  and  the  fox-hunting  gentlemen  cannot 
complain.  They  never  come  hereabouts,"  said  the  huntsman, 
whom  a  cap,  collected  by  Charlie,  and  a  long  pull  from 
Charlie's  flask  had  put  in  excellent  humor,  and  made  him 
feel — for  the  moment — as  bold  as  brass. 

So  Horner  blew  his  horn  again,  and  the  cavalcade  made 
at  a  round  trot  for  the  Warren. 

"  It's  your  fault,  Charlie,"  whispered  Miss  Lincoln,  who 
had  dropped  behind  in  order  to  have  a  word  with  him.  "  If 
you  had  not  heard  about  the  fox  and  put  me  up  to  it  I  should 
not  have  asked  the  Squire,  and " 

"  He  would  not  have  done  it  for  anybody  else.  Never 
mind,  I'll  take  all  the  responsibility." 

"  But  suppose  I  get  my  neck  broken  or  lame  Daisy, 
or " 

"  You  won't  do  either  one  or  the  other.     I'll  pilot  you." 

"  Thank  you.  I'll  do  my  best  to  follow.  But  what  will 
mother  say  ?  She  won't  let  me  go  with  the  foxhounds  for 
fear  of  accidents,  and  now " 

"  You  are  not  going  with  foxhounds." 

"  But  we  are  going  to  hunt  a  fox." 

"  That  remains  to  be  seen.  We  have  first  to  find  a  fox, 
and  it  will  be  no  easy  matter  to  bustle  him  out  of  the  Warren, 
I  can  tell  you." 

"  I  think  we  shall  find  a  fox,  Charlie.  I  am  sure  we  shall. 
The  Squire  says  it  is  an  ideal  hunting  day,  and  I  am  sure 
there  is  a  scent." 

"  Not  a  doubt  of  it.  But  that  does  not  prove  we  shall  find 
a  fox." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


41 


"  We  shall  find  a  fox.  I  have  a  presentiment.  If  we  don't 
I  will  never  ask  Mr.  Vayle  to  draw  the  Warren  again.  So  it 
will  be  all  your  fault.  But  what  shall  I  do  about  Potts  ?  He 
is  riding  old  Tinker,  one  of  the  carriage  horses.  I  don't 
think  it  can  jump  a  bit,  and  Potts  would  fall  off  if  it  did — 
and  as  mother  told  him  to  take  good  care  of  me,  he  considers 
it  his  duty  to  go  wherever  I  go." 

"  Oh,  never  mind  old  Potts,  We  will  drop  him  into  the 
first  ditch,  and  leave  him  to  vegetate." 

"  Charlie,  you  are  really  too  bad,"  and  then  she  laughed 
and  said,  "  Poor  Potts  !  I  hope  the  ditch  will  be  soft,  he  is 
a  good  old  man,"  and  laughed  again. 

Just  then  Edward  came  alongside,  with  so  grave  a  mien 
that  Olive  rallied  him. 

"  Why  so  serious,  Mr.  Edward.  Aren't  you  enjoying  your- 
self ? "  she  asked. 

"  I  have  enjoyed  myself  exceedingly,  so  far ;  but  this  is  a 
serious  matter." 

"What  is?" 

"  Drawing  the  Warren  for  a  fox.  I  doubt  whether  it  is  the 
right  thing.  I  quite  admit  that  the  Squire  is  lord  of  the 
forest,  so  to  speak,  by  general  consent :  but  it  is  a  question 
in  my  mind  whether  the  Warren  can  fairly  be  considered  a 
part  of  the  forest." 

"  I  don't  think  anybody  will  mind  the  question  in  your  mind, 
Mr.  Edward,  if  we  find  a  fox  in  the  Warren,  and,  if  we  do, 
mine  be  the  blame,  for  it  was  I  who  asked  the  Squire  to  draw 
the  Warren." 

"  In  that  case  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said,"  returned 
Edward,  his  grave  face  relaxing  into  a  smile,  "  for  where  is 
the  man  who  could  refuse  when  Miss  Lincoln  asks  .-* " 

"  I  forgive  your  previous  doubts  in  consideration  of  your 
pretty  compliment.  But  here  we  are  at  the  Warren.  Where 
shall  we  go,  Mr.  Charles  .''  "  (It  was  always  "  Mr.  Charles  " 
when  Edward  was  present.)  "  I  have  heard  something  about 
upwind  :  which  is  upwind  .''  " 

"  You  mean  that  foxes  generally  run  upwind ;  but  to-day 
there  is  no  wind " 

"  So  there  can  be  no  up.     What  shall  we  do  then  ?  " 

"  Well,  it  is  a  safe  rule  to  stick  to  hounds,  above  all  in  a 
big  cover  like  this,  where  they  may  slip  away  unseen  and 
unheard." 


42 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"  All  right.  Mr.  Charles,  you  stick  to  the  hounds,  and 
we'll  all  try  to  stick  to  you,  won't  we,  Mr.  Edward  .''  " 

"  Certainly,  Miss  Lincoln,  if  you  will  it.  I  am  not  sure, 
though,  that  Charlie  is  to  be  trusted.  He  must  be  careful 
not  to  lead  you  into  danger." 

"  Or  you.  At  any  rate,  where  he  goes  I  shall  go  ;  and 
unless  you  keep  with  us  you  will  be  thrown  out,"  answered 
Olive,  rather  sharply.  It  displeased  her  to  hear  Charlie  dis- 
paraged, and  she  did  not  "  care  "  for  Edward. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  43 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  RUN. 

The  Warren  was  a  large  wood,  technically  a  part  of  the 
forest,  but  separated  from  the  main  portion  of  it  by  a  broad 
stretch  of  turf.  It  was  intersected  by  two  rides  and  several 
bridle-paths,  the  trees  and  undergrowth  being  elsewhere  so 
thick  as  to  render  progress  on  foot  difficult  and  on  horse- 
back well-nigh  impossible. 

When  the  field  reached  the  wood  Mr.  Vayle  marshalled 
his  forces.  The  main  point  was  to  prevent  reynard  (if  per- 
chance he  should  be  found  at  home)  from  stealing  back  into 
the  forest,  in  which  event  a  run  in  the  open  would  be  out  of 
the  question.  To  this  end  he  posted  several  men  between 
the  wood  and  the  forest,  with  instructions  to  head  back  the 
fox  if  he  should  attempt  to  break  in  that  direction. 

Bill,  the  whip,  took  his  stand  at  the  top  of  the  principal 
ride  ;  a  long-legged  brewer,  on  a  roan  gelding,  with  a  bit  of 
red  ribbon  flying  from  its  tail  as  a  danger  signal,  and  a  sport- 
ing butcher,  on  a  thorough-bred  screw  (which  he  wanted  to 
sell),  undertook  to  watch  on  one  side  of  the  covert ;  and  the 
ladies  and  the  keeper  were  asked  to  keep  a  look-out  on  the 
other. 

Horner  was  then  ordered  to  throw  in  his  hounds  and  draw 
towards  the  higher  ground,  and  away  from  the  forest. 

"  If  we  don't  take  care,  we  shall  all  be  left  lamenting,"  said 
the  Squire  when  these  dispositions  had  been  made.  "  The 
covert  is  so  thick  that  you  can  neither  see  hounds  nor  hear 
a  hallo.  Twenty  years  ago,  when  the  foxhounds  used  to 
come  here,  they  once  slipped  out  with  a  fox  unseen  by  any- 
body, the  huntsman  got  bogged,  and  the  hounds  had  a  fine 
run  of  an  hour  and  forty  minutes  all  to  themselves.  (Dear 
me  1     Dear  me  !)     Where  are  you  going,  Charlie  ?  " 

"  Into  the  Warren  with  Horner.     I  can  whip  up  to  him." 

"  Yes,  yes  ;  go.     Quite  right,  and  if  you  find,  shout  your 


44 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


loudest.     (Dear  me  !     Dear  me  !     I  wish  I  was  as  young  as 
Charlie,  or  even  that  conceited  jackanapes,  his  brother)." 

Miss  Windle  and  Miss  Conyers,  overhearing  this  soUloquy, 
laughed  consumedly. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  Why  are  you  laughing  ?  (Dear  me  ! 
Dear  me !  Youth  is  the  time  for  laughter  ;  why  shouldn't 
they  laugh  ?)     Are  you  going  too,  Olive  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Squire ;  I  should  like  to  be  as  near  the  hounds  as 
possible,  if-  there  is  going  to  be  any  fun." 

"  Quite  right.  Yes,  go.  But  beware  of  trees  and  holes, 
and  take  care  of  your  hat.  (Dear  me  !  Dear  me  !  I  wonder 
whether  it  is  the  hounds  or  Prince  Charlie  she  would  best 
like  to  be  near.)" 

Fortunately,  none  save  the  object  of  it  heard  this  sotto 
voce,  and,  blushing  brightly,  she  followed  her  pilot,  and  was 
followed  in  her  turn  by  Edward  Prince  and  coachman 
Potts. 

Nobody  else  went  into  the  wood,  and  they  had  not  gone 
far  before  two  of  the  party  began  to  wish  they  had  stayed 
with  the  others.  They  were  forced  to  ride  in  single  file, 
twisting  and  turning,  dodging  the  boughs  and  threading  their 
way  through  the  brambles,  their  horses  slipping  where  the 
ground  was  smooth,  and  stumbling  where  it  was  rough. 

"  Stoop  low  and  shut  your  eyes,  Olive,"  said  Charlie  : 
"  never  mind  Daisy,  she  will  take  care  of  herself,  and  I  will 
take  care  of  you."  Which  he  did  so  effectually  that  not  a 
bough  touched  her. 

"  Can  anybody  see  the  hounds  ?  "  inquired  Horner.  "  If 
they  was  to  get  on  a  line  now  we  shouldn't  be  in  it." 

"I  wish  we  were  not  in  it,"  growled  Edward.  "  I  knew 
Charlie  would  lead  us  into  some  mess.  Confound  it  !  I 
believe  I  have  cut  my  nose." 

"  So  you  have,"  said  Olive,  glancing  round.  "  It  is  bleed- 
ing dreadfully.  You  look  like  a  red  Indian  in  his  war 
paint." 

Whereupon  Edward,  muttering  an  imprecation,  applied 
his  handkerchief,  thereby  adding  greatly  to  his  difficulties  : 
with  the  same  hand  he  had  both  to  guide  his  horse  and  ward 
off  the  branches,  one  of  which  flying  back,  crushed  Potts's 
castor  and  bonneted  him  completely. 

"  Oh  Lord  !  "  shouted  the  coachman.  And  dropping  his 
reins  he  made  frantic  efforts  to  extricate  himself.     But  the 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  45 

lining  of  his  hat  having  fouled  on  his  rather  large  nose  he 
found  this  no  easy  task.  In  the  end,  however,  he  emerged, 
very  red  in  the  face  and  uttering  strange  oaths. 

All  laughed,  even  Edward,  who  was  beginning  to  think 
that  the  tip  of  his  nose  would  go  on  bleeding  forever. 

"  Oh  by — that  hurt,  that  did,"  howled  the  huntsman.  "  Ooo, 
00,  00  !  "  While  he  was  laughing  at  Potts  his  shin-bone  had 
collided  against  the  bole  of  a  tree  and  got  the  worst  of  it.  "  I 
won't  come  into  this  'ere  hole  again,  not  for  ten  long-tails. 
And  Where's  the  hounds  ?  They  may  be  a  mile  away  by  this 
time.  Thank  goodness,  here's  a  path  at  last.  We  can  get 
along  a  bit  now." 

All  put  their  horses  into  a  brisk  trot,  Horner  still  leading, 
for  he  best  knew  the  way. 

"  Hark  !  "  he  cries,  stopping  short  so  suddenly  that  Kitty 
nearly  cannoned  against  Pagan.  "  Cannot  you  hear  sum- 
mut  ?  " 

"  By  Jove  !  I  do  believe  it's  a  whimper." 

"  Ay  is  it "  (listening  intently),  "  it's  Ringlet,  and  when 
Ringlet  speaks  you  must  be  sure  there's  summut.  There  it 
is  again.  It's  a  line.  Mr.  Charlie,  it  is  a  line.  Hike  to 
Ringlet !     Hike  to  Ringlet !     For-rard  !     For-rard  !  " 

And  the  old  fellow,  bending  over  his  saddle-bow  to  avoid 
impending  branches,  goes  off  at  a  canter,  followed  by  the 
others,  all  in  a  state  of  high  excitement,  for  Ringlet's  solitary 
note  has  now  swollen  into  a  full  chorus. 

Charlie,  mindful  of  the  Squire's  injunction,  shouts  his  loud- 
est ;  Olive  cheers  on  the  hounds  ;  Edward  pockets  his  hand- 
kerchief and  lets  his  nose  take  care  of  itself  ;  and  Potts  squar- 
ing his  elbows  and  using  his  heels,  succeeds  in  putting  old 
Tinker  into  a  high  and  ponderous  gallop. 

"This  way,"  cries  the  huntsman;  "we  can't  see  'em,  and 
we  don't  know  what  it  is — mebbe  a  hare,  after  all — we  must 
just  ride  to  the  music  till  we  get  out  of  the  wood." 

Presently  they  emerge  into  a  broad  path,  riding,  as  before, 
to  the  music,  for  the  hounds  still  keep  to  the  thick  of  the 
wood. 

"  Bill  should  be  somewhere  about  here,"  says  Charlie. 
"  And  hark !  There's  a  hallo  !  A  fox  !  by  all  that  is  glorious, 
a  fox !  Hike  hallo  !  Hike  hallo  I  Forrud  away  !  Forrud 
away !  " 

"  How  do  you  know  it's  a  fox  ? "  asks  Edward. 


46  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Because  it's  Bill's  voice,  and  he  knows  better  than  to  tally- 
ho  a  hare.  Hike  hallo  !  Hike  hallo  !  I  hope  Mr.  Vayle  and 
the  others  will  hear.     Blow  again,  Horner. 

At  the  top  of  the  wood,  which  they  reached  at  the  same 
time  as  the  hounds,  are  the  brewer,  the  butcher,  and  the 
whips,  holding  up  their  hats  and  halloing  till  they  are  black 
in  the  face. 

"  He's  only  just  gone !  he's  slipped  through  the  gateway 
into  that  field.  There !  Beauty  has  it.  That's  the  line. 
For'rard  to  Beauty  !     Well  done,  old  girl !  " 

"  Hike  for'ard  !  Hike  for'ard  !  " 

"  I  hope  the  Squire  has  heard  the  row  and  will  be  able  to 
catch  us  up,"  says  Charlie.  "  Shout  again  !  Forrud,  forrud, 
forrud  !  to  Beauty.     Sound  another  blast,  Horner." 

Meantime  Bill  has  opened  the  gate,  and  all  ride  after  the 
hounds,  which  are  racing  across  a  big  pasture  to  a  breast- 
high  scent,  the  butcher  leading  on  his  thoroughbred  screw. 
Next  come  Charlie  and  Olive,  Bill  and  the  brewer,  followed 
k  by  Horner  and  Potts. 

The  first  fence  is  a  low  bank  with  a  widish  ditch  on  the 
near  side.  To  the  surprise  of  everybody,  himself  probably 
included.  Tinker  takes  it  in  his  stride,  and  the  coachman 
sticks  on. 

"  Bravo  Potts  !  "  shouts  Charlie  :  "  if  you  go  on  like  that 
you  will  be  in  at  the  death.  .  .  Not  quite  so  fast,  Olive ! 
If  we  don't  save  our  horses  now  they  will  not  live  through  the 
run.  Never  mind  though  the  hounds  do  get  a  bit  ahead. 
They  cannot  keep  up  this  pace  over  that  plough." 

Nor  do  they.  The  scent  grows  colder,  and  two  or  three 
freshly  ploughed  fields  with  openable  gates  are  traversed  at 
a  trot,  the  hounds  hunting  beautifully,  checking  only  once 
and  recovering  the  line  v/ithout  any  help  from  the  huntsman. 

Then  more  grass  and  faster  going  ;  small  enclosures  and 
blind  fences,  with  few  jumpable  places. 

"  The  butcher  seems  inclined  to  make  the  running,  let  him 
go  first  and  make  gaps  for  us,"  says  Charlie,  whose  native 
daring  was  tempered  by  a  sense  of  his  responsibility  for  the 
safety  of  his  fair  companion. 

At  the  third  fence,  after  leaving  the  plough,  Tinker  blun- 
dered into  a  blind  ditch,  throwing  Potts  clean  over  his  head 
and  completing  the  destruction  of  his  rider's  hat. 

"■He  is  done   to  a  turn  ;  you  had  better  go  home,"  said 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


47 


Charlie,  after  ascertaining  that  Potts  was  none  the  worse. 
"  And  tell  Mrs,  Lincoln,  with  my  compliments,  that  I  will 
take  good  care  of  Miss  Olive." 

The  field,  now  reduced  to  seven,  continue  the  chase,  the 
hounds  for  the  most  part  running  mute  to  a  burning  scent. 
A  few  yards  behind  them  ride  the  brewer,  the  butcher,  and 
the  whip,  closely  followed  by  Olive  and  Charlie,  while  Edward 
and  Horner  bring  up  the  rear. 

The  chase  has  lasted  nearly  an  hour,  and  shows  no  signs 
of  coming  to  a  close  when  the  hounds  run  on  to  a  highway 
where  two  roads  meet  (one  of  them  bounded  by  a  wide  brook), 
throw  up  their  heads  and  stop  short.  They  have  lost  the 
scent. 

Horner  makes  a  couple  of  casts  without  result,  and  things 
are  beginning  to  look  serious  when  a  faint  hallo  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  a  hat  at  the  end  of  a  stick,  gives  a  timely  hint  as 
to  the  direction  taken  by  the  fox. 

"  He  has  crossed  the  brook,"  says  the  huntsman,  sounding 
his  horn.  "  Hike  hallo  !    Hike  hallo  !    Yoh  over  !   Yoh  over !  " 

"Hike  hallo!  Hike  hallo!  "  echoes  Bill,  whipping  the 
hounds  up  the  brink.  "  Yoh  over  !  Yoh  over  !  Beauty  has 
it  again.     Faw-rud  to  Beauty  !     Faw-rud  !     Faw-rud  !  " 

The  hounds  swim  the  stream  in  the  wake  of  Beauty,  and 
after  "  feathering  "  a  few  seconds  on  the  further  side,  go  off 
full  cry. 

"  All  very  fine,"  says  Edward,  "  but  how  are  we  to  get 
over  t  " 

Seeing  that  the  opposite  bank,  besides  being  high,  is 
crowned  with  a  three-barred  rail,  a  pertinent  question.  The 
brewer,  the  butcher,  and  the  whip  answer  it  on  the  instant. 
Crossing  the  girth-high  stream,  they  leap  their  horses  on  the 
bank  and  then,  dismounting  and  breaking  down  the  topmost 
rail,  lead  them  over  the  others. 

"  Dare  you  ?  "  asks  Charlie  of  Olive. 

"  Go,  and  I  will  follow." 

Charlie  goes. 

"  Let  Daisy  have  her  head,"  he  shouts,  as  Kitty  scrambles 
up  the  bank,  and  then,  though  there  is  hardly  standing  room, 
leaps  his  mare  over  the  rails  without  dismounting.  Olive 
does  the  same,  and  the  next  moment  they  are  galloping  after 
the  hounds,  which,  like  the  horses,  have  been  greatly  refreshed 
by  the  check  and  the  bath. 


48  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Are  you  going  to  have  it,  Mr.  Prince  ? "  asks  Horner, 
looking  ruefully  at  the  obstacle. 

Though  neither  a  bold  rider  nor  a  keen  sportsman,  Edward 
had,  so  far,  gone  very  well — partly,  perhaps,  out  of  a  spirit  of 
emulation,  partly,  it  may  be,  because  he  did  not  like  to  lag 
behind  when  a  lady  led  the  way,  and  that  lady  Olive  Lin- 
coln. But  the  brook  looks  ugly  and  the  bank  dangerous,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  rail ;  and  it  requires  a  strong  effort  to 
screw  up  his  courage  to  the  sticking  point  and  let  his  horse 
go.  But  at  the  critical  moment  his  nerve  fails  him.  As 
Merry  Boy  rises  at  the  bank,  Edward  clutches  at  the  bridle 
and  pulls  him  back  into  the  stream,  whereupon  the  bewil- 
dered and  indignant  animal  plunges  down  the  middle  of  it, 
flounders  into  a  hole,  and  only  after  a  desperate  bout  of 
swimming  and  scrambling  succeeds  in  getting  back  on  to  dry 
land. 

"  I  don't  think  I  should  try  that  again,  sir,  if  I  was  you," 
observes  the  huntsman.  "  You'll  be  drowned  if  you  do. 
That  is  a  main  dangerous  place,  that  is,  though  when  I  was 
young  like  your  brother  and  Mr.  Macadam,  and  Bill  and  the 
butcher,  I  should  ha'  thought  naught  on  it — naught.  But 
I'm  an  old  fellow  now.  Come  along  o'  me.  I  think  I  know 
the  fox's  point.     We'll  be  at  it  as  soon  as  them." 

"You  can  go  where  you  hanged  please,  Horner.  I  am  wet 
through  from  the  waist,  and  shall  go  straight  home.  I  wish 
we  had  not  found  that  brute  of  a  fox.  I  never  go  out  with 
my  brother  that  I  don't  get  into  some  beastly  mess,"  an- 
swered Edward  savagely.  He  was  not  naturally  sweet  tem- 
pered, and  an  involuntary  cold  bath  on  an  October  day  with 
a  ten-mile  ride  in  wet  clothes  and  water-logged  boots  before 
him,  would  try  the  patience  of  a  saint. 

"  Call  him  a  sportsman,"  soliloquized  Horner,  as  he  went 
his  way.  "  Why,  he  is  not  fit  to  be  named  in  the  same  day 
as  his  brother.  Mr.  Charlie's  the  boy  for  me.  He  both  rides 
straight  and  takes  a  pleasure  in  seeing  hounds  hunt.  Hark  ! 
Is  not  that  'em?  His  point  is  Welsby  coppice  I  do  believe. 
Hold  up,  boss.  You're  not  a  getting  tired  already,  surely." 
"  Isn't  this  glorious,  Charlie  ?  "  cries  Olive,  as  they  reach 
the  crest  of  a  hill,  over  which  the  hounds  have  disappeared 
a  few  moments  previously,  and  up  which  the  four  men  have 
walked  to  ease  their  horses.     "  Is  not  this  glorious  ?  " 

She  might  well  say  so.     Below  them  was  a  breezy,  wide- 


/ 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


49 


stretching  common,  which  sloped  gently  towards  a  verdant, 
well-wooded  valley,  dotted  with  quaint  cottages  and  red  farm- 
houses, and  bounded  far  away  by  a  shining  river. 

''  Yes,  that  is  Harold's  Common,  as  big  as  a  parish,  they 
say.  And  see  how  the  hounds  are  going — all  in  a  cluster ! 
Well,  we  are  not  likely  to  lose  sight  of  them,  that  is  one  com- 
fort, and,  by  Jove,  there  he  is  !  " 

"  The  fox  do  you  mean — where  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  see  that  dark  object,  a  mere  speck — about  half- 
a-mile  before  the  hounds  .''  " 

"  And  that  is  the  fox !  Poor  fellow !  Do  you  know, 
Charlie,  I  almost  hope  he  may  escape." 

"  I  don't  think  he  will  :  the  scent  is  too  good.  But  if  we 
don't  go  on  the  hounds  will  escape  us.     Come  along  !  " 

And  they  went — helter-skelter  down  the  hill.  Macadam 
and  Charlie  leading,  for  the  butcher  had  taken  a  good  deal 
out  of  his  thoroughbred,  and  speed  was  not  the  strong  point 
of  Noah's  Ark.  But  the  going  was  good,  and,  after  a  two- 
'  mile  gallop,  all  overtook  the  hounds,  just  as  the  latter  left 
the  common  for  the  fields,  and  exchanged  grass  for  plough. 
And  then  the  pace  slackened — fortunately,  for  it  is  no  joke  to 
face  wide  ditches  and  formidable  fences  with  fagged  horses. 
Even  the  hard-riding  brewer  was  glad  to  let  the  whip  lead 
the  way  and  keep  a  keen  look-out  for  gates  and  weak  places. 

But  jumps  were  not  always  avoidable,  and  at  the  very  last 
obstacle — a  rail  and  ditch — which  had  to  be  taken  flying, 
Daisy  came  to  grief.  Charlie  went  first,  and  then,  with  keen 
anxiety,  turned  to  see  how  it  would  fare  with  Olive. 

"  Send  her  at  it,"  he  cried,  "  it's  rather  a  big  place."  The 
little  mare  did  her  best,  but  being  well-nigh  spent,  hit 
the  rail  hard  and  went  into  the  ditch  instead  of  over  it.  Olive 
luckily  fell  clear,  and  before  Charlie  and  Macadam  could 
dismount  to  help  her,  was  on  her  feet.  As  for  Daisy,  she 
seemed  minded  to  repose  for  a  while  in  the  ditch,  and  it  was 
with  some  difticulty  that  they  got  her  out  of  it. 

"  Whether  we  lose  the  hounds  or  not,  we  must  have  no 
more  jumping,"  said  Charlie,  as  he  helped  Olive  into  the 
muddy  saddle.  "  Remember,  I  am  responsible  for  j-our 
safety,  .and  you  would  not  like  any  harm  to  befall  Daisy." 

"  Not  for  the  world.  But  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  spoil 
your  sport.  Ride  on  after  the  hounds.  I  can  take  care  of 
myself." 

4 


5° 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"  Certainly  not.  What  would  your  mother  say  ?  And  the 
hounds  have  stopped  running.  Don't  you  see  them  feather- 
ing in  the  middle  of  that  stubble  \ " 

"Have  they  killed?" 

"  I  don't  think  so.  You  would  hear  Bill  shouting  '  whoo- 
whoop  '  if  they  had.  The  scent  has  either  failed  or  the  fox 
run  to  ground.     Let  us  go  on  and  see." 

The  hounds  were  baying  at  the  mouth  of  a  drain. 

"  He's  in  here,  sir,"  said  the  whip,  who  was  prone  on  the 
grass,  listening  intently.  "  I  can  hear  him.  Shall  I  run  to 
yonder  farmhouse,  get  a  spade  and  try  to  dig  him  out?  " 

"  Don't,  Charlie,  don't  !  He  is  a  gallant  fox  and  has 
given  us  a  splendid  run.     Let  him  live,"  pleaded  Olive. 

"  Very  well. — Yes,  I  think  he  deserves  to  save  his  brush — 
an  hour  and  forty  minutes  with  only  two  checks.  What  do 
you  say.  Macadam  ?  " 

"  I  am  quite  of  your  opinion.  And  it  is  Hobson's  choice. 
This  drain  is  deep,  and  we  have  no  terriers.  You  may  as 
well  call  them  off,  Bill.     How  far  are  we  from  Peele  ?  " 

"  If  that  house  across  the  fields  be  the  King  George, 
and  I  think  it  is,  nigh  on  fifteen  miles.  It's  been  a  clinking 
run,  Mr.  Charlie,  it  has  that." 

"You  are  right,  and  you  have  ridden  well  up.  Bill.  Here's 
a  crown  for  you  !  And  now  let  us  go  to  the  King  George 
and  refresh  our  horses  and  ourselves,  and  then  we  will  hie 
us  home.  What  has  become  of  my  brother  and  Horner,  I 
wonder?  " 

"  They  did  not  like  that  brook,  I  think.  But  never  you 
fear,  sir.  Horner  will  turn  up.  He  does  not  ride  as  straight 
as  you  and  Mr.  Macadam,  but  he's  generally  somewhere  about 
at  the  end  of  a  run." 

The  whip  proved  a  true  prophet.  As  hunters  and  hounds 
drew  up  at  the  door  of  the  inn  Horner  came  jogging  up  the 
road. 

"  What  have  you  done  ?  "  he  asked. 

Bill  told  him. 

"  I  felt  sure  he  was  making  for  Welsby  Coppice,  and  he'd 
ha'  got  there,  too,  if  the  hounds  hadn't  pressed  him  so  hard. 
The  Squire  will  be  as  well  pleased  as  if  he  had  ridden  the 
run  himself.  But  he'd  ha'  been  all  the  better  pleased  if  you'd 
ha'  taken  the  brush  home  in  your  hat,  Miss  Lincoln.  He 
likes  a  kill,  the  Squire  does." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


SI 


"  But  I  don't,  and  I  am  sure  the  brush  is  much  better  where 
it  is  than  in  my  hat.  Here  is  something  to  put  into  yours  " 
(handing  him  half-a-sovereign),  "  and  will  you  see,  please, 
that  the  horses  are  properly  attended  to,  and  then  you  can  go 
into  the  house  and  get  something  for  yourselves." 

"  Thank  you,  miss,  thank  you  kindly,"  said  the  old  fellov/, 
pocketing  the  rip  and  touching  his  cap.  "  But  I'll  stop  where 
I  am.  If  I  was  to  get  off  it  would  take  me  half  an  hour  to 
get  on  again,  I'm  that  stiff  and  rheumatical.  I'll  have  some 
cheese  and  bread  and  sixpenn'orth  o'  whiskey.  Bill.  And 
slip  the  bit  out  of  Pagan's  mouth  and  bring  him  some  gruel. 
He'll  not  run  away,  I'll  warrant." 


52 


THE  PRINCES  VF  FEELE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GOING    HOME. 

The  ride  home  was  long  and,  so  far  as  pace  went,  slow,  yet 
very  pleasant  withal.  The  declining  sun  shone  brightly 
on  a  charming  landscape,  which  still  retained  much  of  its 
autumnal  glory ;  and  the  run  and  its  incidents,  besides  being 
pleasant  to  think  about,  made  a  subject  for  conversation 
which  it  seemed  impossible  to  exhaust. 

Horner,  as  was  meet,  rode  first,  at  the  head  of  his  pack. 
Next  came  Bill  and  Mr.  Macadam — the  latter  acting  as 
amateur  second  whip — to  whom  followed  Olive  and  Charlie. 
The  butcher,  whose  horse  had  gone  dead  lame,  brought  up 
the  rear,  and  was  soon  left  hopelessly  behind. 

"  We  had  better  keep  together  ;  horses  like  company,  and 
this  jog-trot  is  quite  fast  enough,"  had  said  Charlie  to  Miss 
Lincoln. 

"  By  all  means.  It  will  be  so  much  more  cheerful  for  us, 
besides  being  better  for  the  horses,"  answered  Olive,  with  a 
sigh. 

"  Are  you  tired,  Olive,  that  you  sigh  ?  "  asked  Charlie 
softly. 

"  A  little.     But  it  was  not  that." 

"  What,  then  ?  " 

"  I  was  thinking  about  my  mother.  She  will  be  frantically 
anxious.     What  time  shall  we  get  home  .-'  " 

"  You,  at  six,  I,  half  an  hour  later.  I  don't  think  you  need 
distress  yourself  on  that  account.  I  suppose  Potts  would 
deliver  my  message  ?  " 

"  I  have  no  doubt  he  would,  also  a  few  observations  of  his 
own.  He  thinks  nobody  can  take  care  of  me  but  himself, 
and  will  tell  mother  that  without  him  I  should  be  sure  to 
come  to  desperate  grief." 

"  Well,  your  appearance  at  home  safe  and  sound  will  prove 
the  contrary." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


53 


"  For  which  thanks  to  you,  Charlie.  If  you  had  not  piloted 
me  so  carefully  and  told  me  what  to  do  I  should  never  have 
seen  the  end  of  the  run — and  I  have  enjoyed  it  so  much. 
So  much  that  I  am  almost  ashamed  of  myself,  for  I  fear  it  is 
very  cruel." 

"  What  is  .?  " 

"  Hunting." 

"  There's  no  doubt  it  is,  in  a  sense  ;  but  what  is  not .''  You 
cannot  eat  a  mutton  chop  without  killing  a  sheep,  nor  drink 
a  glass  of  water  without  swallowing  a  lot  of  microscopic 
organisms.  And  remember  that  if  there  were  no  hunting  all 
these  hounds  would  have  been  drowned  when  they  were 
whelps." 

"  So  we  may  regard  ourselves  as  philanthropists.  Instead 
of  being  a  cruel  amusement,  hunting  is  a  humane  pursuit. 
Foxes  die  in  order  that  hounds  may  live.  I  vote  for  the 
hounds,"  returned  Olive  brightly,  for  though  she  rather 
suspected  that  there  lurked  a  fallacy  in  Charlie's  theory,  she 
was  not  disposed  to  scrutinize  too  severely  his  ingenious 
argument  in  support  of  so  pleasant  a  pastime. 

"  That's  it.  Miss  Lincoln,"  put  in  the  brewer.  "  If  there 
was  no  hunting  there  would  be  no  hounds,  and  if  we  killed 
no  foxes  there  would  be  no  hunting.  And  you  may  do  a  lot 
of  hunting  without  killing — to-day  for  instance.  The  betting 
is  always  ten  to  one  on  the  fox.  I  suppose  you  have  nothing 
of  the  sort  in  America,  Miss  Lincoln  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  fox-hunting  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  You  are  quite  mistaken,  Mr.  Macadam,"  said  Olive,  who, 
though  she  liked  hunting  and  England  exceedingly,  was  too 
patriotic  to  admit  that  her  country  played  second  fiddle  in 
anything  whatever,  "  You  are  quite  mistaken.  I  believe 
there  is  very  good  fox-hunting  in  Virginia,  and  we  have 
something  far  finer — buffalo-hunting  on  the  prairies  and 
grizzly  bear-hunting  in  the  Rockies." 

"  But  they  hunt  buffaloes  without  hounds — just  ride  up 
to  them  and  shoot  them  down.  The  poor  brutes  have  no 
chance,"  said  the  brewer. 

"I  don't  call  that  sport  at  all,"  said  Charlie;  "hunting 
without  hounds  is  like  dancing  without  music — and  then 
there  is  no  jumping." 

"  And  what  is  that  like  ?  "  demanded  Olive,  tartly. 


54 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


"  Fox-hunting  without  jumping  is  like  war  without  fighting." 

"  Or  beer  without  hops,"  suggested  the  brewer. 

"  Or  love  without  kisses,"  added  Charlie. 

"  All  the  same,  America  is " 

"  Your  country,  and  you  are  quite  right  to  stick  up  for  it. 
I  admit  your  superiority  as  to  buffaloes  and  grizzlies,  and  I 
daresay  ii:  is  good  fun  hunting  them.  But  I  am  quite  content 
with  Old  England  and  fox-hunting  ;  I  want  nothing  better." 

"  Hear,  hear  !  "  said  the  brewer  ;  "  Old  England  forever, 
and  may  we  never  have  worse  sport  than  we  have  had  to- 
day." 

"  That  is  a  sentiment  in  which  I  can  concur  without 
reserve,"  observed  Olive.  "  It  is  the  best  day's  sport  I  ever 
had ;  and  I  don't  think  I  shall  have  a  better  until  I  hunt  the 
buffalo  and  the  grizzly  in  their  native  wilds." 

And  then  they  all  laughed.  When  people  are  in  high 
spirits  a  small  joke  goes  a  long  way. 

An  hour's  alternate  jog-trotting  and  walking  brought  them 
to  Rodwell  Cross,  and  there  they  parted  company,  the  hounds 
and  the  brewer  going  one  way,  Miss  Lincoln  and  Charlie 
another. 

"  My  mother  and  I  were  talking  about  you  the  other  day," 
said  Olive,  after  a  short  interval  of  silence. 

"  I  hope  you  were  speaking  well  of  me." 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  you  would  think  it  well.  My  mother 
said  that  you  were  not  cut  out  for  a  lawyer,  and  I  rather 
agree  with  her." 

"  So  do  I.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  don't  like  the  law,  and  I  am 
not  a  lawyer  by  choice." 

"  You  would  rather  have  been  something  else  ?  " 

"  I  would  rather  have  been  a  soldier.  I  wanted  to  go  into 
the  army,  but,  as  my  father  and  mother  objected,  I  yielded 
to  their  wishes,  and  became  an  articled  clerk,  a  good  deal 
against  the  grain.  My  father  is  very  good,  though.  He 
does  not  tie  me  to  the  desk.  '  Enjoy  yourself  while  you  are 
young,'  he  saj^s.  '  Care  will  come  soon  enough.  If  you  are 
not  ploughed  more  than  once  at  your  exams.  I  shall  be  con- 
tent.' " 

"  And  have  you  been  ploughed  ?  " 

"  Never.  My  pride  would  not  let  me,  and  the  exams,  are 
not  very  difficult." 

"  But  you  don't  spend  much  time  at  the  office .'' " 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  55 

"  No  more  than  I  can  help." 

"  And  is  that  the  way  you  intend  to  go  through  Hfe — doing 
no  more  than  you  can  help  ? "  asked  Olive,  rather  con- 
temptuously. 

"I  did  not  say  I  do  no  more  work  than  I  can  help,"  re- 
turned Charlie,  with  some  asperity.  "  I  said  I  spent  no 
more  time  in  the  oiifice  than  I  could  help,  which  is  a  very 
different  matter.  And  there  is  no  particular  reason  why  I 
should  work  hard.  Ned  does.  He  likes  it,  and  old  Lilly- 
white  is  a  host  in  himself,  to  say  nothing  of  my  father  ;  and, 
though  he  is  fond  of  field  sports,  no  man  in  the  county  works 
harder  at  his  profession." 

"  Yes,  your  father  is  a  very  fine  man.  Everybody  respects 
him.  He  has  been  very  good  to  us.  My  mother  says  that 
there  is  nobody  in  the  world  in  whom  she  has  such  absolute 
confidence.     He  is  integrity  itself." 

"  Yes,  and  he  is  kindness  itself.  I  would  rather  lose  my 
right  hand  than  vex  my  father.  It  was  to  please  him  that  I 
gave  up  my  idea  of  going  into  the  army." 

"  It  was  not  to  please  your  mother,  then  ?  " 

"  It  pleased  them  both.  If  the  pater  had  been  left  to  him- 
self I  think  he  would  have  consented.  But  she  would  not 
hear  of  it — she  comes  of  a  Quaker  family,  and  has  some 
Quaker  notions  about  soldiering  and  that — and  if  you  want 
to  please  my  father  you  must  please  my  mother.  ,  .  I  am 
afraid  you  think  me  a  very  idle  fellow,  Olive." 

"  No,  I  would  not  say  that.  You  hunt  and  fish,  and  play 
cricket  and  football  with  great  energy  and  success.  No,  you 
are  far  from  idle.  But  you  don't  seem  to  care  about  getting 
on.  Now,  in  America,  a  young  man  in  your  position  would 
throw  all  his  energies  into  business." 

"  Make  a  fortune,  you  mean  ?  By  the  time  I  should  have 
made  a  fortune  I  should  have  lost  the  capacity  to  enjoy  it, 
I  would  rather  go  on  as  I  am.  I  shall  have  enough  for  my 
wants." 

"  But  could  you  not  try  to  make  a  name  ?  " 

"  What  chance  has  a  country  solicitor  of  making  a  name, 
I  should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  Oh,  there  are  ways.  You  might  get  into  Parliament,  for 
instance.  Anyhow,  if  I  were  a  man,  I  should  not  be  content 
to  be  a  nobody.  I  would  either  make  a  fortune  or  a  name, 
or,  in  some  other  way,  win  distinction." 


5  6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  loSc  my  chance  of  winning  distinction  when  I  went  into 
my  father's  office  instead  of  going  into  the  army,  and  I  shall 
never  have  another — unless  the  French  come  and  the  yeo- 
manry cavalry  are  called  out,"  said  Charlie,  laughing  lightly, 
yet  not  without  a  touch  of  bitterness.  "  But  here  we  are  at 
your  lodge  gates,  and  just  at  the  time  I  expected.  The 
church  clock  is  striking  six.     Shall  I  go  in  with  you  ?  " 

"  Of  course  you  must,  and  give  an  account  of  your  steward- 
ship, and  help  me  to  make  my  peace  with  my  mother." 

"  All  right.  Let  us  trot  up  the  avenue,  and  then  she  will 
know  we  are  coming." 

As  the  two  belated  ones  reined  up  before  the  house  a  foot- 
man threw  open  the  door,  and  a  plump,  little  woman,  with  a 
round,  fat  face,  lively  black  eyes,  and  wearing  widow's  weeds, 
appeared  at  the  threshold. 

"  At  last !  Thank  heaven,  you  are  safe,  Olive.  If  you  only 
knew  how  anxious  I  have  been  !  When  I  heard  the  sound  of 
hoofs  in  the  avenue,  I  feared  it  might  be  the  huntsmen  com- 
ing to  teJl  me  you  were  killed.  Why  didn't  you  return  with 
Potts?" 

"  Because  I  should  have  had  to  leave  off  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  run.  I  would  not  have  done  it  for  a  thousand 
Potts.     He  got  home  all  right,  I  suppose  1  " 

"  He  did  get  home,  but  I  cannot  say  he  was  all  right. 
His  hat  was  battered  all  to  pieces  and  fastened  on  with  a 
handkerchief,  his  face  scratched  all  over  and  encrusted  with 
blood,  his  coat  torn  and  covered  with  mud,  and  Tinker  lame. 
Potts  returned  in  a  sorry  plight,  I  assuie  you,  and  he  said 
you  two  were  careering  over  the  country  like  mad  people, 
and  he  doubted  whether  either  of  you  would  come  home  alive. 
He  frightened  me  dreadfully,  and  I  don't  think  I  shall  ever 
let  Olive " 

"  Potts  is  an  old  tea-pot,"  interposed  Charlie.  "  It  was  one 
of  the  finest  runs  ever  known,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  no  danger- 
ous jumping,  and  Olive  rode  like  an  Amazon.  If  the  fox 
had  been  killed,  instead  of  running  to  ground,  she  would 
have  got  the  brush." 

"Yes,  Olive  does  ride  well,"  said  Mrs.  Lincoln,  mollified 
by  the  young  fellow's  praise  of  her  daughter.  "  But  that  is 
no  reason  why  you  should  lead  her  into  danger." 

"  He  did  not  lead  me  into  danger,  he  led  me  into  safety," 
answered  the  girl  warmly.     "  If  you  had  only  seen — he  kept 


THE  PRINCES  OE  FEELE. 


57 


with  me  all  the  time,  he  went  first  overall  the  difficult  places 
and  told  me  what  to  do.  But  for  him  I  certainly  should 
have  come  to  grief." 

"  Well,  well,  we  will  say  no  more  about  it.  All  is  well  that 
ends  well.  Won't  you  stay  and  dine  with  us,  Charlie  ?  We 
will  excuse  your  costume." 

"  You  are  very  kind,  Mrs.  Lincoln  ;  but  they  are  expecting 
me  at  home,  and  Kitty  has  had  a  hard  day.  I  must  get  her 
made  comfortable  for  the  night  as  soon  as  possible." 

And  then  they  shook  hands,  and  the  young  fellow  hied  him 
homeward,  musing,  and  not  in  the  best  of  humors.  It  was  not 
the  first  time  Olive  had  hinted — though  never  before  so  plain- 
ly— that  he  was  not  taking  life  sufficiently  in  earnest,  and 
that  he  ought  to  have  higher  aims  and  nobler  pleasures  than 
being  merely  a  country  lawyer,  captain  of  the  Peele  Eleven, 
and  riding  straight  to  hounds.  His  conscience  told  him  that 
the  imputation  was  true,  and  he  did  not  like  it ;  less,  however, 
out  of  regard  for  his  conscience  than  Olive's  good  opinion, 
which  he  greatly  desired.  He  had  known  her  since  she  was 
eleven  or  twelve  years  old — that  was  why  they  called  each 
other  by  their  Christian  names — and  he  was  her  senior  by 
three  years.  But  being  as  precocious  as  travelled  American 
girls  generally  are,  and  having  seen  a  good  deal  more  of  the 
world  than  he  had,  she  treated  him  much  as  a  strong-minded 
elder  sister  treats  a  wayward  brother — ordered  him  about, 
made  him  fetch  and  carry  for  her,  and  occasionally  admonished 
him  for  his  good.  Charlie,  on  his  part,  made  no  objection  ; 
he  did  not  find  it  unpleasant  to  be  ordered  about  by  a  pretty 
girl,  and  he  liked  Miss  Lincoln  so  well  that  he  would  have 
suffered  much  rather  than  forfeit  her  good-will  or  forego  the 
pleasure  of  her  society.  He  had  never  seriously  asked  him- 
self whether  he  loved  her.  A  little  flirting  was  all  very  well, 
but  the  conscience  aforesaid  told  him  that  he  was  too  young 
to  become  engaged,  and  existing  arrangements  v/ere  so  en- 
tirely to  his  satisfaction  that  he  had  no  wish  to  change  them 
for  a  state  of  things  that  might  interfere  with  hunting  and 
cricket. 

Nevertheless,  Olive's  strictures  on  his  want  of  purpose 
were  very  galling,  the  more  ecpecially  as,  albeit  in  one  sense 
true,  they  were  not  altogether  deserved.  She  did  not  give 
him  credit  for  the  sacrifice  he  had  made  in  renouncing  his 
desire  to  enter  the  army.     It  had  been  the  dream  of  his  life 


58  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

to  go  to  the  wars,  and  he  knew  that  he  had  it  not  in  him  to 
shine  as  a  solicitor.  The  study  and  practice  of  the  law  were 
only  made  tolerable  to  him  by  being  largely  intermixed  with 
sport,  and  out-of-door  work  in  connection  with  Lord  Hermit- 
age's estate. 

"If  I  can  only  please  Olive  by  making  my  fortune  as  a 
lawyer,  I  may  as  well  give  it  up  as  a'  bad  job,"  he  thought. 
"  And  I  would  rather  please  her  than  anybody  else.  But 
what  can  a  fellow  do  ?  I  might  enlist ;  but  after  the  way 
Jack  has  behaved  that  would  break  their  hearts  entirely,  and 
I  am  not  sure  that  Olive  would  like  me  to  be  a  private  sol- 
dier." 

So  it  came  to  pass  that,  notwithstanding  the  good  day's 
sport  he  had  enjoyed,  Charlie  went  home  pensive  and  de- 
spondent. 

Meanwhile  Olive  and  her  mother  were  making  him  the 
subject  of  another  discussion. 

"  What  have  you  and  Charlie  been  talking  abovit  ?  "  asked 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  as  they  sat  in  the  drawing-room,  waiting  for 
dinner  to  be  announced. 

"  All  sorts  of  things — the  run  and  the  hounds — and, 
lastly,  about  himself.  I  took  the  liberty  of  telling  him  what 
you  said  the  other  day — that  he  was  not  sufficiently  in 
earnest,  that  he  ought  to  have  a  purpose  in  life  and  try 
to  make  some  show  in  the  world." 

"How  did  he  take  it?" 

"  Very  well.  He  never  resents  anything  I  say.  The 
trouble  is  that  he  does  not  like  law  a  bit.  He  wanted  to 
go  into  the  army." 

"  It  was  very  well  he  did  not.  All  idle  young  men 
want  to  go  into  the  army,  I  think." 

"  Charlie  is  not  idle,  mother  ;  anything  but  that.  He  works 
with  great  energy  at  anything  he  likes,  and  it  is  not  his  fault 
that  he  has  been  put  into  a  profession  which  he  detests." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  smiled. 

"  What  would  you  have,  my  dear  ?  "  she  said.  "  A  minute 
since  you  were  blaming  the  young  man,  now  you  are  praising 
him." 

"  Well,  I  am  afraid  of  him  sinking  into  a  nondescript  and 
a  nobody — half  sportsman,  half  lawyer,  and  he  has  it  in  him 
to  do  a  great  deal  better  than  that — he  is  generous,  cour- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


59 


ageous  and  high-spirited  and  in  many  things  really  very  clever 
— much  more  so  than  some  people  imagine." 

"  You  have  observed  him  very  closely,  I  think." 

"  Naturally.  We  were  children  together  ;  and  I  always 
observe  people.     It  is  amusing." 

"  All  the  same,  Olive,  there  is  a  grave  defect  in  Charlie's 
character,  I  fear  he  is  unstable  and  will  never  excel — except 
in  sport.  What  if  he  does  not  like  the  law  }  He  has  gone 
into  it,  and  it  is  his  duty  to  conquer  his  dislike.  Many  a 
man  has  made  a  fortune  and  a  name  in  a  profession  which  he 
did  not  find  congenial  at  first.  Let  him  take  example  by  his 
brother.  Edward  will  get  on.  He  works  at  this  unfortunate 
suit  of  ours  night  and  day.  His  knowledge  of  the  law  is 
simply  immense.  He  seems  to  know  everything  and  forget 
nothing." 

"  Yes,  he  is  the  model  young  man,  which  is  perhaps  the 
reason  I  don't  much  like  him." 

"You  mean  you  don't  like  him  because  other  people  do." 

"  That  is  not  it.  I  dislike  him  because  he  is  priggish  and 
conceited,  after  the  manner  of  models.  Then  he  doesn't 
ride  straight,  and  I  detest  his  laugh." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  smiled  again. 

"  That  is  a  new  fad  of  yours,  Olive,  judging  people  by  their 
laugh,"  she  said,  "  and  if  riding  is  to  be  the  test  I  admit 
that  Edward  is  hopelessly  inferior  to  his  brother.  But  it  is 
not  a  test  of  a  man's  moral  worth,  and  judged  by  any  other 
standard,  Edward  is  the  better  man.  He  is  industrious 
and  clever,  as  high-principled  as  his  father,  and  altogether  a 
most  promising  young  man.  I  greatly  prefer  him  to  CharUe, 
and  so  I  think  must  every  sensible  person." 

"  Then  I  am  not  a  sensible  person,  for  I  am  sure  I  don't," 
returned  Olive  defiantly. 

"  Well,  well,  there  is  no  accounting  for  likes  and  dislikes," 
said  Mrs.  Lincoln  with  an  air  of  amused  resignation,  "  and 
perhaps  if  I  preferred  Charlie  you  would  prefer  Ned.  Some 
people  go  by  the  rule  of  contrary.  But  let  us  go  in  to  din- 
ner ;  the  bell  has  rung  and  you  must  be  very  hungry." 


6o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
"the    blessin  g." 

"  Got  some  gruel  ready,  Tom  ? "  asked  Charlie  of  the 
head  groom,  as  he  rode  into  the  stable-yard. 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,  take  good  care  of  Kitty.  We  have  had  a  clinking 
run  and  a  long  hack  home.  What  are  you  doing  with  a  fire 
in  the  harness-room  ?  " 

"  Drying  Mr.  Edward's  boots  and  saddles  and  things.  He 
got  into  a  brook  or  summat,  and  came  home  sousing  wet." 

"Give  Kitty  a  linseed  mash—but  no  corn,  mind,  and  no  bran, 
and  when  she  is  cool  sheet  her  well  up  and  bandage  her  legs." 

And  with  that  the  young  fellow  hurried  into  the  house,  for 
it  was  quite  dinner-time  ;  but  it  took  him  only  a  few  minutes 
to  change  his  hunting  suit  for  evening  dress,  and  he  entered 
the  dining-room  with  the  second  course. 

A  large  low  ceiled  room  it  was  and  oak  wainscoted  :  at  one 
end  burnt  a  bright  fire  of  logs,  at  the  other  shone  resplendent 
a  fine  black  oak  cabinet  and  sideboard,  lighted  with  wax 
candles,  in  its  way  quite  a  work  of  art,  to  the  building  of 
which  Mr.  Prince,  who  was  curious  in  such  matters,  had  given 
much  time  and  thought.  The  windows  were  hung  with 
crimson  curtains,  the  walls  adorned  with  choice  oil  paintings, 
and  all  the  arrangements  were  suggestive  of  good  taste  and 
easy  circumstances. 

"  Had  good  sport,  my  boy,  eh  ?  "  said  Mr.  Prince  pleas- 
antly, as  Charlie  took  his  seat. 

"  Capital !  Found  a  fox  and  ran  him  an  hour  and  forty 
minutes  with  only  two  checks.     Hasn't  Ned  told  you  .^  " 

"  He  could  not  tell  me  more  than  he  knew.  He  got  into 
trouble  at  Cobbin  Brook  and  came  home.  Gad  !  I  would  not 
have  come  home." 

"  I  think  Edward  did  quite  right  to  come,"  observed  Mrs. 
Prince  gently,  and  with  a  slight  lifting  of  her  beautiful  arched 


THE  PRTNCES  OF  PEELE.  6 1 

eyebrows.  "  It  would  have  been  very  foolish  of  him  to  go  on 
with  wet  clothes  and  his  boots  full  of  water." 

"  Ah,  Avell,  there's  no  accounting  for  tastes  in  these  things. 
And  Ned  never  was  much  of  a  sportsman." 

"  I  never  pretended  to  be,  father.  Chacun  a  son  gout,  you 
know  " 

"  All  the  same,  you  rode  like  a  sportsman  to-day,  Ned,"  put 
in  Charlie.  "  If  you  had  not  got  into  the  brook  you  would 
have  seen  the  end  of  the  run  as  well  as  the  best — and  an 
accident  may  happen  to  anybody." 

The  mother  smiled.  She  knew  that  her  sons  were  not 
always  sympathetic,  and  the  junior's  generous  defence  of  the 
elder,  even  in  so  small  a  matter  as  this,  touched  a  responsive 
chord  in  her  heart. 

"Well,  one  cannot  help  getting  a  bit  excited  when  hounds 
are  running,"  said  Ned,  smiling  in  turn,  "  and,  if  Merry  Boy 
had  not  blundered  into  the  deepest  part  of  the  brook,  I  don't 
think  I  should  have  been  far  behind  you." 

"  Blundered,  did  he  ? "  said  Mr.  Prince,  with  a  gesture  of 

surprise.     "  The  old  horse  does  not  often  do  that,  unless 

However,  it  is  perhaps  as  well  you  did  not  take  much  out  of 
him.  He  will  be  fit  for  me  to  ride  with  the  foxhounds  on 
Thursday — if  you  will  help  Lillywhite  to  look  after  the  shop, 
Charlie  !     Ned  is  going  to  town  for  a  few  days." 

"  Of  course  I  will,  father  ;  and  if  the  weather  holds  out  you 
ought  to  have  good  sport." 

"  I  hope  Olive  came  to  no  harm,"  said  Mrs.  Prince.  "  I 
have  never  been  able  to  reconcile  m3'self  to  the  idea  of  girls 
riding  to  hounds  ;  and  I  know  that  her  mother  is  never  quite 
happy  when  she  is  out." 

"  She  did  not  come  to  the  least  harm,  and  straight  she 
rode,  too  ;  never  shirked  a  single  jump,"  returned  Charlie. 

"  Did  not  boggle  at  the  brook,  I  suppose  ?  "  said  Mr. 
Prince,  with  a  side  glance  at  his  elder  son. 

"  Nor  anything  else." 

"  If  you  mean  that  for  me,  father,"  he  said,  "  if  you  mean 
that  I  boggled  at  the  brook,  just  let  me  tell  you  that  I  did 
nothing  of  the  sort.  If  Merry  Boy  had  not  refused  the  bank 
and  plunged  into  mid-stream,  so  wetting  me  through,  I  should 
have  gone  on  ;  but  I  am  not  so  fond  of  huntings  as  to  be  in- 
different to  the  consequences  of  a  ducking." 

"  You  see  what  you  have  missed,  Ned,"  said  the  father, 


62  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

mischievously,  "  the  best  part  of  a  chnking  run,  and  a  ride 
home  with  a  pretty  girl." 

Edward,  who  took  himself  too  seriously  to  like  being 
chaffed,  did  not  deign  to  reply. 

Before  dinner  was  quite  over  the  butler  told  Mr.  Prince,  in 
an  aside,  that  Thomas  Roots,  from  Windy  Gap,  would  like 
to  have  a  word  with  him. 

"  Bother  Thomas  Roots.  Why  cannot  he  come  to  the 
office  in  business  hours  ?  However,  he  is  an  important  tenant, 
and  always  up  to  time  with  his  rent.  It  is  about  that  new 
barn  he  wants  building,  I  suppose.  See  him,  Charlie — it  is 
in  your  line — and  say  that  Lord  Hermitage  won't  let  us  spend 
any  more  money  in  improvements  this  year ;  but,  after  Lady 
Day,  I  daresay  we  can  manage  it.  Show  Roots  into  my 
room,  Hartly,  and  give  him  a  glass  of  grog." 

Charlie  had  got  rid  of  the  farmer,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
returning  to  the  drawing-room  when  one  of  the  maids  gave 
him  a  note,  which  on  opening  he  found  to  run  as  follows : — 

"  The  waif,  whom  you  so  generously  relieved  this  morning, 
craves  the  favor  of  an  interview  with  Mr.  Charles  Prince. 
He  has  a  very  important  communication  to  make,  but  being 
in  rags  would  rather  not  show  himself  in  the  house.  He  will 
wait  for  an  answer  at  the  stable-yard  gate." 

"  He  must  be  a  queer  tramp,"  thought  Charlie  ;  "  this  letter 
is  well  written  and  not  badly  expressed.  Shall  I  see  him  ? 
Ned  would  say  he  was  a  begging-letter  impostor,  and  want  to 
send  for  a  constable.  As  likely  as  not,  though,  he  is  a  decent 
fellow  down  on  his  luck.  Anyhow,  there  is  no  harm  in  hear- 
ing what  he  has  to  say." 

So,  after  lighting  his  pipe  and  putting  on  a  felt  hat,  he 
went  leisurely  into  the  stable-yard,  unsuspicious  of  evil,  and 
anticipating  nothing  more  serious  than  a  tramp's  story,  pos- 
sibly true,  but  more  probably  false,  ending  with  a  request  for 
money. 

He  found  his  man  lounging  against  the  gate-post  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  and  his  hat  slouched  over  his  eyes. 

"Well,"  said  Charlie,  stopping  before  him. 

"  I  should  like  a  word  with  you,  sir,  if  you  would  be  so 
kind  as  to  give  me  a  hearing.  But  we  might  be  overheard 
here,  people  are  coming  and  going.  Could  we  go  some- 
where ?    I  shall  not  detain  you  long." 

The  tone,  voice,  and  manners  of  the  man  were  so  different 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  63 

from  those  of  the  tramp  who  had  opened  the  gate  for  him, 
earlier  in  the  day,  that  Cliarlie  could  hardly  believe  it  was 
the  same. 

"  Is  it  so  very  particular,  then,  what  you  have  to  say  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Very,  sir,  as  you  will  be  the  first  to  admit  when  I  tell  you." 

"  Let  us  go  into  the  harness-room.  There  is  a  fire,  and 
the  men  are  sure  to  be  away  by  this  time." 

Charles  led  the  way  to  the  harness-room,  opened  the  door 
and  went  in,  the  tramp  following.  Edward's  saddle  was  dry- 
ing before  the  fire  on  an  old  wooden  case,  turned  upside 
down.  Charlie  removed  the  saddle  and  told  the  tramp  to 
take  a  rest  on  the  box,  then  he  put  a  log  on  the  fire  and  stirred 
it  up.     As  he  stooped  to  do  this  his  face  came  near  the  tramp's. 

"  You  have  been  drinking,"  he  said  sternly,  turning  round 
with  the  poker  still  in  his  hand. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  have  had  a  glass  of  brandy,  but  not  out  of 
your  money,  for  on  my  way  to  Peele  I  earned  sixpence  by 
helping  a  carter  to  get  his  cart  out  of  a  ditch.  And  if  you 
are  ever  as  tired  and  hungry  and  used  up  as  I  was  this  morn- 
ing, you'll  be  glad  of  a  drop  of  something  to  put  a  bit  of  life 
and  courage  into  you.  And  I'd  have  no  objection  to  another 
glass  if  you'd  give  me  one.     Might  a  fellow  smoke  .''  " 

"  Might  a  fellow  smoke !  Do  you  know  yon  are  getting 
confoundedly  familiar.  You  have  not  only  been  drinking  ; 
you  are  drunk." 

"  No,  I  am  not.  One  glass  of  brandy  does  not  make  a  man 
like  me  drunk,  and  that  is  all  I  have  had.  As  for  familiarity, 
I  have  a  right  to  be  familiar." 

"  You  impertinent  scoundrel  !     I've  a  good  mind " 

"  Don't  use  bad  language,  my  dear  sir.  You'll  be  sorry 
for  it  afterwards." 

"  'Pon  my  word,  this  is  intolerable.  Say  at  once  what  you 
have  to  say  or  I'll  send  for  a  constable." 

"  I  don't  think  you  will,  sir." 

"  Why  not  ?     You  are  either  an  impostor,  or  worse." 

"  Well,  perhaps  I  am — in  one  sense.  All  the  same — don't 
you  know  me  ?  " 

"  Know  you  ?     How  on  earth  should  I  know  you  ?  " 

"  Look  at  me." 

The  tramp  rose,  doffed  his  hat,  removed  the  patch  from 
his  eve.  and  then  threw  back  his  head. 


64  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Look  !  "  he  repeated. 

Charles  shook  his  head. 

"  By  this  fitful  light,"  he  said,  again  stirring  the  fire.  "  By 
this  fitful  light  I  should  not  know  my  own  brother." 

"  I  am  your  own  brother." 

"  My  own  brother  !  Good  Heaven  !  You  don't  mean  to 
say  you  are  Jack  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am  your  vagabond,  ne'er-do-weel  brother,  the  same, 
though  I  can  hardly  believe  it,  who,  when  you  were  a  little 
chap,  so  high,  used  to  romp  with  yow.  in  this  very  room  and 
ride  you  round  the  garden  there  on  his  back." 

Charlie's  first  impulse  was  to  exclaim,  "  Dear  old  Jack," 
and  take  his  hand.  Then,  remembering  the  evil  Jack  had 
wrought  (though  he  did  not  know  the  worst)  he  drew  back. 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  and  what  has  brought  you  to 
this  pass  ?  "  he  asked  coldly. 

"  I  will  tell  you.  But  not  so  loud,  not  so  loud — the  serv- 
ants— somebody  might  hear.  But  let  me  ask  you  first  of  all, 
did  the  governor  square  Peploe  and  Pope  ?  " 

''  I  believe  so.    At  any  rate,  he  paid  a  good  deal  of  money." 

"  Then  they  did  not  burst  up  ;  there  was  no  scandal  ?  " 

"  Peploe  and  Pope  did  not  burst  up  ;  there  was  no  scandal." 

"  Then  he  must  have  squared  them.  I  wonder  how  much 
it  cost  him  t     But  did  he  square  the  bank  as  well  ? " 

"  What  bank  ?  " 

"Jardine  and  Jameson." 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  ;  I  never  heard  of  them  before.  Now, 
answer  my  questions — where  have  you  been,  and  what  do 
you  want  ? " 

"  Where  have  I  been  .-•  Well,  when  I  found  the  game  was 
up  I  jumped  a  ship " 

"  You  ran  away  from  your  debts,  you  mean.  That  was 
cowardly." 

"My debts?  Yes,  I  ran  away  from  my  debts,"  answered 
Jack  with  a  hard  laugh,  "  and  a  good  job  I  did.  I  put  on  a 
suit  of  sailor  clothes,  went  down  to  the  docks,  jumped  on 
board  a  ship  as  she  was  being  towed  out,  got  a  berth  as  or- 
dinary seaman,  and  sailed  in  her  to  China,  and  a  rough  voy- 
age we  had,  I  can  tell  you.  At  Hong  Kong  I  left  her  and 
got  a  billet  in  a  merchant's  office,  and  if  I  had  been  a  steady- 
going  chap  I  might  have  saved  money  and  got  on.  I  did 
save  some,  but  I  spent  it  in  a  spree  and  lost  my  billet  at  the 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  65 

same  time.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  go  to  sea  again, 
so  I  shipped  on  board  a  brig  bound  to  Queenstown  for 
orders.  We  got  orders  to  go  on  to  Liverpool,  and  that  being 
about  the  last  place  in  the  world  I  wanted  to  go  to,  I  slipped 
overboard  and  swam  ashore,  and  as  I  had  not  a  copper  in 
my  pocket  and  hardly  a  shirt  to  my  back,  I  'listed.  By  the 
time  I  had  finished  my  drill,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Col- 
cliester,  and  there  I  got  across  with  an  infernal  brute  of  a 
sergeant-major.  One  day  last  week  he  provoked  me  beyond 
endurance,  and  I  knocked  him  down.  I  was  placed  under 
arrest,  of  course,  but  the  same  night  I  escaped  from  the  lock- 
up, went  to  a  boozing  ken,  a  common  lodging-house,  and  ex- 
changed clothes  with  a  tramp  while  he  slept,  then  set  off  on 
the  tramp  myself." 

"  You  are  a  deserter,  then  ?  " 

"  A  deserter — and  worse  ;  he  is " 

Jack  seized  the  poker  and  sprang  to  his  feet.  Charlie  turned 
sharply  round.      There  was  a  dark  figure  in  the  doorway, 

"  You,  Ned  t  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  Yes,  you  dropped  this  note  in  the  hall,  and,  recognizing 
the  handwriting,  and  guessing  what  had  happened,  I  came 
here  just  in  time  to  hear  this  vagabond's  confession — or  so 
much  of  it  as  he  chooses  to  tell.  How  dare  you  show  your 
face  here.  Jack  ?  " 

"  What  is  that  to  you,  Ned  ?  You  are  not  my  keeper.  I 
have  done  you  no  harm." 

"  Done  me  no  harm  !  You  have  harmed  us  all.  Are  we 
not  partners  in  your  disgrace.  To  make  good  your  defal- 
cations and  prevent  a  frightful  scandal,  father  had  to  borrow 
money  and  incur  a  liability  of  which  he  will  not  get  rid  while 
he  lives.  Is  that  no  harm  ?  Is  it  no  harm  to  us — to  Charlie 
and  me — think  you,  that  our  eldest  brother  should  be  guilty 
of  forgery  and  fraud  and  become  a  drunkard,  a  deserter,  and 
a  tramp  .-*  " 

''  Forgery  and  fraud  !  "  exclaimed  Charlie.  "  No,  no,  Ned. 
Surely,  it  is  surely  not  so  bad  as  that !  " 

"  You  were  so  young  at  the  time  that  father  did  not  want 
you  to  know,  so,  for  God's  sake,  keep  it  to  yourself,  but  it  is 
true,  ask  him  if  it  isn't." 

"  It  is  true,"  murmured  Jack,  bowing  his  head. 

"  And  the  bankers  refused  to  be  squared.  If  they  find  out 
that  you  are  in  the  country  they  will  prosecute  you.     Y/hy  on 


66  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

earth  didn't  you  stay  in  China  or  go  somewhere  else  ?  If 
you  possessed  the  sUghtest  vestige  of  a  conscience,  you  would 
have  cut  your  throat  or  blown  out  your  brains  rather  than 
come  back  here." 

"  Don't  say  that,  Ned,"  interrupted  Charlie.  "It  is  almost 
as  if  you  told  him  to  commit  murder.  And  he  is  our  brother, 
after  all.  It  is  not  for  us  to  throw  a  stone  at  him.  If  we 
don't  forgive  him,  who  will  1  " 

"  Well,  I  might  have  forgiven  him  if  he  had  not  come  back. 
But  this  is  the  worst  thing  he  has  done  yet.  If  he  is  taken 
up  as  a  deserter,  and  he  may  be  any  moment,  for  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  the  police  are  on  the  look-out  for  him — if  he 

is  taken  he  is  sure  to  be  recognized,  and  then It  makes 

my  very  blood  run  cold  to  think  of  it What  is  your 

object  in  coming  here.  Jack  ?     I  suppose  you  have  an  object  ?  " 

"  I  thought  I  might  get  a  little  help.  There  is  not  a  beggar 
on  the  road  who  is  poorer  than  I  am." 

"  And  you  shall  be  helped,  Jack,"  broke  in  Charlie  im- 
petuously. "  I  cannot  do  much,  but  whatever  I  can  do  I 
will." 

"  He  does  not  deserve  to  be  helped,  Charlie,  and  if  it  was 
not  for  the  disgrace  it  would  cause  the  family,  I  should  say 
leave  him  to  his  fate." 

"  No,  you  would  not,  Ned ;  when  it  came  to  the  point  you 
would  not  have  the  heart  to  turn  your  own  brother  from  your 
door,  without  raising  a  hand  to  help  him,  though  he  is  a  black 
sheep." 

"  You  are  right.  Charlie,"  said  Jack,  gloomily.  "  I  am  a 
black  sheep,  and  I  fear  I  always  shall  be  ;  but  is  it  entirely 
my  own  fault,  think  you  ?  A  man  is  pretty  much  as  God 
makes  him.  At  school  I  was  always  getting  into  scrapes  ; 
Ned  was  never  in  a  scrape  in  his  life.  I  could  never  do  right ; 
he  could  never  do  wrong,  and  it  has  been  so  ever  since.  How 
I  wish  my  father  had  let  me  go  to  sea  when  I  wanted.  I 
should  have  got  licked  into  shape  while  I  was  a  cub.  What 
was  the  use  of  trying  to  make  a  barrister  of  a  fellow  like 
me  1  " 

"  Not  a  word  against  the  pater.  Jack,  if  you  please,"  said 
Charlie.     "  He  has  been  only  too  good." 

"  I  am  not  saying  a  word  against  him ;  merely  expressing 
a  regret  that  I  was  not  allowed  to  go  to  sea.  I  regret  still 
more  that  he  did  not  drown  me  while  I  was  a  whelp.     I  wish 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  67 

I  had  never  been  born.  Don't  you  think  I  feel  my  degrada- 
tion ?  Ned  accused  me  of  being  a  drunkard.  I  am  not ;  at 
any  rate  I  am  not  a  sot  ;  but  sometimes  I  get  utterly  reck- 
less. I  think  of  what  I  am,  and  what  I  might  have  been,  and 
then  I  am  ready  for  anything.  I  try  to  drown  dark  memories 
in  drink — and,  I  won't  deny  it,  the  habit  grows.  .  .  .  But  I 
won't  trouble  you,  why  should  I  ?  You  are  among  the  for- 
tunate of  the  earth,  while  I,  like  Cain,  am  a  vagabond  on 
the  face  of  it.  Let  me  go.  What  if  I  am  lagged  t  It  will 
only  be  fifty  lashes.  I  can  stand  that,  and  I  did  not  enlist 
in  my  own  name." 

"  That  would  not  do  at  all,  Jack,"  said  Edward,  speaking 
kindly  for  the  first  time.  "  You  would  have  to  be  brought 
before  the  Bench,  and  somebody  would  be  sure  to  recognize 
you  :  and  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of  you  wandering  about  the 
country  like  a  common  tramp.  Have  you  any  money  in  your 
pocket,  Charlie  ? " 

"  Three  or  four  sovereigns." 

"  And  I  have  no  more." 

"  That  will  do,  thank  you,"  said  Jack,  humbly.  "  Five 
pounds  will  make  me  rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice." 

"  No.  You  should  have  enough  to  take  you  out  of  this 
country,  and  start  you  in  another — forty  or  fifty  pounds  at 
least — and  you  must  be  away  from  Peele  before  daylight  to- 
morrow— by  the  5.30  train.  ...  I  have  it.  I  am  going  to 
town  to-morrow  by  the  10.30  express,  in  re  Lincoln.  I  can 
get  the  money  there,  and  you  can  meet  me — it  won't  do  for 
you  to  come  to  Wood's  Hotel — at  the  Black  Bull,  in  Holborn, 
between  five  and  six  o'clock.     Where  will  you  go  ?  " 

"  To  New  York,  in  a  sailing  ship  from  the  Thames.  I 
must  fight  shy  both  of  Liverpool  and  Queenstown." 

"  You  will  really  go,  now  ?  You  won't  spend  the  money 
in  drink  ?  " 

"  I  assure  you,  Ned " 

"  Well,  it  is  your  last  chance,  remember  ;  and  I  don't  mean 
to  give  you  all  this  money  at  once.  Fifteen  pounds  o"  co 
will  be  enough  to  keep  you  a  few  days  in  London,  and  pay 
your  passage  in  a  sailing  ship  to  New  York.  I  will  remit  the 
balance  to  the  care  of  some  banker  to  wait  your  arrival. 
What  may  be  your  latest  alias  ?  " 

"  It  was  John  Jones  the  other  day.  It  is  anything  you  like, 
now." 


68  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Let  it  be  grandfather's,  then,  Mark  Darnley.  And  now 
we  must  go  in,  or  we  shall  be  missed.  Charlie  will  bring  you 
some  clothes  and  a  rug  presently.  You  cannot  go  to  London 
in  those  rags  ;  and  you  must  be  olT  before  the  men  come  in 
the  morning." 

"  Couldn't  I  see  h'nti  and  my  mother  and  ask  their  forgive- 
ness ?     It  might  help  me  to  do  better." 

"  No.  It  would  be  too  cruel.  It  would  reawaken  painful 
memories  ;  their  hearts  would  bleed  afresh — and — there  are 
other  reasons." 

The  "  other  reasons  "  were  Edward's  dread  of  a  scene,  and 
a  fear  that  the  scapegrace  might  obtain  from  his  father  a 
great  deal  more  money  than  the  modest  sum  which  he  him- 
self proposed  to  give  him. 

"  Anyhow,  he  may  see  them,"  Charlie  said.  "  We  have 
evening  prayer  about  ten  o'clock.  When  the  stable  clock 
strikes  the  hour  go  round  to  the  dining-room  window,  Jack. 
I  will  arrange  the  blinds  so  that  you  can  look  in  without  be- 
ing seen.  But  take  care  they  don't  see  you.  I  will  bring  you 
the  things  as  soon  as  I  can,  and  I  shall  come  again  in  the 
morning  to  see  you  off  and  say  good-bye." 

When  his  brothers  were  gone  Jack  put  his  elbows  on  his 
knees  and  his  head  between  his  hands,  and  gazed  gloomily 
at  the  flickering  fire. 

"  Evening  prayer  !  Evening  prayer  ? "  he  moaned.  "  They 
keep  it  up,  then.  How  long  is  it  since  ?  To  think  of  that 
time  and  what  I  am  now  is  enough  to  make  a  fellow  hang 
himself,  as  my  dear  brother  advised  me  to  do.  How  proud 
I  was  when  mother  took  me  in  to  prayers  for  the  first  time, 
and  held  me  on  her  lap  while  father  read,  and  then  I  would 
kneel  at  her  side  and  say  my  own  prayer,  '  God  make  me  a 
good  boy  ! '  ....  Not  much  use,  that  prayer.  He  has 
made  me  a  deuced  bad  boy — or  the  devil  has — worse  than  I 

dare  tell  or  anybody  knows I'll  ask  Ned  to  pay  my 

passage  and  see  me  safely  on  board.  If  he  gives  me  all  that 
money  I  shall  go  on  the  loose  and  get  lagged,  to  a  dead  cer- 
tainty      They  are  very  good,  'pon  my  soul.     Charlie 

is  really  kind ;  he  means  it.  Ned  is  good  because  he  wants 
to  get  rid  of  me.  He  is  nothing  if  not  respectable.  Gad 
if  he  saw  me  marched  off  with  those  things  on  my  wrists, 
between  a  couple  of  fellows  with  fixed  bayonets,  he  would 
have  a  fit I  am  on  the  down  grade  and  no  mistake. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  69 

If  I  could  only  keep  ofif  drink  !  Unless  I  do  I  shall  go  to  the 
deuce  fast,  and  utterly — faster  I  dare  say  in  America  than 
here.  However,  as  nobody  knows  me  there  and  nobody 
cares  for  me  here,  it  don't  much  matter.  Life  is  but  a  thought, 
and  I  have  seen  more   of  it  than  most  men  twice  my  age." 

And  so  his  vagrant  thoughts  ran  on  until  the  clock  struck 
ten.  Then  he  went  out  and  crept  furtively,  by  well-known 
paths,  to  the  dining-room  window  and  looked  into  the  house 
from  which  he  was  an  outcast  and  might  never  enter  again. 
The  room  was  empty,  but  there  presently  came  a  servant  and 
laid  a  Bible  and  a  prayer-book  on  the  table.  Next,  a  bell 
rung,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prince  and  their  two  sons,  followed 
by  several  domestics,  entered  the  room  and  took  their  places, 
just  as  they  had  done  in  days  gone  by.  For  the  most  of 
those  present  it  was  a  ceremony  without  any  particular  mean- 
ing— Mr.  Prince  taking  part  in  it  mainly  to  please  his  wife, 
and  because  it  was  the  right  thing  to  do — but  the  vagabond's 
interest  in  it  was  intense  ;  he  lost  neither  a  word  nor  a  ges- 
ture ;  it  was  his  last  glimpse  of  home,  the  last  time  he  should 
look  on  his  father  and  mother,  for  whom,  despite  his  sins  and 
degradation,  there  was,  deep  down  in  the  heart,  an  undying 
affection. 

When  Mr.  Prince  had  read  a  few  verses  and  a  short  prayer 
the  servants  withdrew,  and  Mrs.  Prince,  sitting  down  at  the 
piano,  asked  her  sons  and  her  husband  to  join  her  in  singing 
the  old  Evening  Hymn  : — 

"  Glory  to  thee,  my  God,  this  night, 
For  all  the  blessings  of  the  light ; 
Keep  me,  oh  keep  me,  King  of  kings, 
Under  thine  own  almighty  wings." 

When  it  was  finished  she  rose  from  her  seat. 

"  Are  you  going  to  bed  already,  mother  ?  "  asked  Charlie. 

"  Yes,  I  feel  rather  tired." 

The  two  young  men  kissed  her. 

"  Good-night,  and  may  God  bless  you,"  she  said  with  emo- 
tion, "  and  may  He  also  bless  poor,  erring  Jack,  wherever  he 
is  this  night.     I  have  thought  much  about  him  to-day." 

"  Aye.  God  bless  him,"  added  Mr.  Prince,  in  a  choking 
voice.  "  He  needs  a  blessing,  if  anybody  does.  It  is  nearly 
three  years  since  his  name  passed  my  lips.  He  has  done  us 
a  cruel  wrong.     But  he  is  our  own  lad  still.     That  is  a  fact 


7° 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


one  cannot  blot  out ;  and  for  aught  we  know  he  may  be  lead- 
ing a  better  life.  I  often  wonder  where  he  is,  and  how  occu- 
pied. All  the  same,  I  hope  we  may  never  hear  of  him  again 
— unless  it  be  something  good.  Better  that  he  should  perish 
in  a  foreign  land  than  come  back  and  disgrace  us." 

All  this  fell  on  the  listening  vagabond's  ears  and  burnt  into 
his  soul.  His  whole  body  trembled  with  suppressed  emotion, 
and  his  face  was  bathed  with  tears. 

"  I  have  their  blessing,"  he  murmured  ;  "  they  love  me  still, 
drunken  reprobate  though  I  am.  Please  God,  I'll  never 
touch  drink  again  ;  and  when  they  hear  of  me  it  shall  be 
something  good— it  shall — it  shall." 

And  then  he  crept  back  to  his  hiding-place,  by  the  way  he 
had  come. 

A  few  days  later  Jack  was  at  sea,  on  board  a  ship  bound 
for  New  York  ;  and  during  the  voyage,  which  was  long  and 
stormy,  he  never  turned  in  without  murmuring :  "  Keep  me, 
oh  keep  me,  King  of  kings,  under  thine  own  almighty  wings," 
and  saying  to  himself :  "  It  shall  be  something  good,  if  I 
live." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  7 1 


CHAPTER  IX. 
MRS.  Lincoln's  plan. 

Though  Mrs.  Prince  was  neither  a  match-maker  nor  a 
schemer,  it  would  have  been  strange  if  the  idea  of  mating  her 
soil  Edward  with  OUve  Lincoln  had  not  occurred  to  her.  The 
advantages  of  such  a  match  would  have  been  obvious  to  a 
much  less  intelligent  matron.  Olive  was  an  heiress,  and, 
albeit  somewhat  wayward  and  self-willed,  a  very  charming 
girl ;  and  Edward,  who  was  a  model  son,  could  not  fail  to 
make  an  exemplary  husband.  Moreover,  in  the  probable 
event  of  the  misappropriation  of  the  trust  money  coming  to 
light,  the  fact  of  Olive  being  Edward's  wife  would  disarm 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  resentment  and  prevent  scandal.  The  secret 
would  be  kept  in  the  two  families ;  and  the  intercourse  be- 
tween them  had  latterly  become  so  frequent  and  friendly,  that 
she  anticipated  no  difficulty  in  the  realization  of  her  designs. 
Formerly  the  Lincolns  were  generally  from  home — if  they 
could  be  said  to  have  a  home — dividing  their  winters  between 
Paris,  Italy,  and  the  Riviera,  making  occasional  visits  to 
America,  and  spending  only  their  summers  at  All  Hallows. 
But  since  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  his  widow  and  his  daughter 
had  lived  there  exclusively  and  in  strict  seclusion,  making  few 
calls,  and  receiving  scarcely  anybody  save  the  Princes. 

Mrs.  Prince  opened  the  campaign  by  sounding  her  son. 

"  Olive  is  a  charming  girl,"  she  said,  "  and  will  make  a  very 
fine  woman.     Don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  she  is.  All  the  same,  she  would  be  more  so 
if  she  were  a  little  less  wilful  and  capricious  ;  and  not  being 
a  prophet  I  am  unable  to  say  whether  she  will  make  a  fine 
woman,"  answered  Edward,  who  (probably  owing  to  his  legal 
habit  of  mind)  had  a  provoking  way  of  never  assenting  to  a 
proposition  without  cavilling. 

"  I  did  not  say  she  was  faultless,"  observed  Mrs.  Prince 
rather  impatiently.  "  A  girl  brought  up  as  she  has  been  is 
sure  to  be  a  little  wilful ;  and  she  has  seen  so  much  of  the 


72 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


world  that  she  is  older  than  her  years.  But  I  think  I  know 
her  as  well  as  you  do,  and  I  assure  you  she  is  a  girl  of  noble 
nature,  whose  love  any  man  might  be  proud  to  win." 

"  Unquestionably — always,  of  course,  provided " 

"  Oh,  don't  give  me  any  of  your  always  provided.  You 
need  not  talk  to  me  as  if  you  were  afraid  of  committing  your- 
self. I  am  very  much  in  earnest.  Tell  me  without  equivo- 
cation whether  you  would  not  be  proud  to  win  her,  whether 
the  advantages,  both  to  yourself  personally  and  to  the  family, 
which  would  accrue  from  a  marriage  with  Olive  have  not 
occurred  to  you  ?  " 

"  Of  course  they  have,  and  as  you  press  for  an  answer,  I 
admit  that  I  should  be  very  glad — but  there  are  difficulties  in 
the  way  which  you  do  not  seem  to  have  taken  into  account." 

"  What  are  they  ?  " 

"  Well,  in  the  first  place,  I  might  have  to  keep  her." 

"  Naturally,  but  as  you  have  now  a  share  in  the  office,  and 
as  she  is  an  heiress,  that  is  surely  not  much  of  a  difficulty." 

"  You  forget  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  will,  expressed  a 
strong  desire,  amounting  almost  to  a  command,  that  his 
daughter  should  not  marry  until  she  was  at  least  twenty-one  ; 
and  in  the  event  of  her  marrying  without  her  guardians'  con- 
sent before  she  is  twenty-five  the  whole  of  her  fortune,  except 
two  hundred  a  year,  goes  to  another  branch  of  the  family 
(after  her  mother's  death),  a  provision  intended,  no  doubt,  to 
prevent  her  being  snapped  up  by  a  mere  fortune-hunter." 

"  But  her  guardians  have  nothing  against  you  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  not,  but  they  would  certainly  object  to  her  marry- 
ing before  she  comes  of  age.  In  no  case  can  she  touch  a 
penny  of  her  fortune  pending  that  event,  and  my  share  in  the 
business  would  not  enable  me  to  give  her  such  an  establish- 
ment as  she  has  a  right  to  expect.  Besides,  I  know  for  a  fact 
that  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  object  to  any  engagement  whatever 
during  Olive's  minority.  She  would  regard  it  as  a  violation 
of  the  spirit,  if  not  the  letter,  of  her  husband's  injunction  ; 
and  in  my  opinion  it  would  be  impolitic  even  to  raise  the 
question." 

"  That  does  make  a  difference,  certainly,"  said  INIrs.  Prince 
pensively.  "  All  the  same,  I  do  not  see  why  you  should  not 
make  yourself  agreeable  to  Olive  in  the  meantime.  There 
are  a  hundred  w^ays  in  which  a  young  man  may  let  a  girl  know 
that  he  loves  her,  without  actually  proposing.     And  the  sooner 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


73 


you  begin  the  better,  for,  though  OUve  is  fancy  free  now,  she 
is  at  an  impressionable  age,  and  there  is  no  knowing  how 
long  she  may  remain  so.  It  will  be  quite  enough  to  propose 
in  two  years  or  so,  and,  if  you  have  secured  her  affection  in 
the  meantime,  I  am  sure  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  not  object. 
Why  should  she  ?  Where  will  she  find  a  man  more  likely  to 
make  Olive  happy  ?  " 

"  All  very  well,  but  suppose  I  fall  in  love  with  Olive  and 
she  does  not  reciprocate,  how  then  .-'  " 

"  That  is  the  risk  you  must  run,  my  dear,  and  remember 
that  faint  heart  never  won  fair  lady." 

"  I  don't  think  I  have  a  faint  heart,  mother,  though  I  do 
confess  to  a  cautious  temperament.  And,  to  tell  the  truth  I 
have  begun  your  plan  already ;  I  have  tried  to  make  myself 
agreeable  to  Olive,  as  yet,  however,  without  much  tangible 
success.  I  seem  to  get  no  'forruder.'  She  gives  me  the 
go-by  for  Charlie,  and,  do  you  know,  I  have  sometimes  had  a 
suspicion  that  those  two  are  slightly  spoons  on  each  other. 
Has  that  possibility  entered  into  you  calculations,  mater  ?  " 

Mrs.  Prince  laughed. 

"  You  are  really  too  absurd  with  your  doubts  and  suspi- 
cions and  misgivings,  Edward.  Mentally,  Charlie  is  little 
more  than  a  boy.  They  saw  a  good  deal  of  each  other  when 
they  were  children,  that  is  the  reason  why  they  are  so  friendly. 
Besides,  he  is  both  too  young  and  too  much  taken  up  with 
hunting  and  that  to  fall  in  love.  He  thinks  more  of  Kitty 
than  Olive,  and  he  is  not  Olive's  ideal.  These  Americans 
are  very  practical.  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  a  farmer's  daughter,  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  made  his  own  way.  They  think  nothing  of  a 
man  who  does  not  put  all  his  energies  into  his  profession 
and  make  money.  I  do  wish  father  would  insist  on  his 
spending  more  time  at  the  ofiace." 

"  Charlie  is  a  lad  after  father's  own  heart,"  answered 
Edward  with  a  supercilious  smile. 

"  Yes ;  he  says  he  was  much  the  same  at  the  same  age, 
and  that  Charlie  will  buckle  to  when  he  has  had  his  fling. 
We  shall  see.  .  .  .  You  will  think  of  what  I  have  said, 
dear  ? " 

"  I  will,  mother ;  and,  to  be  quite  open  with  you,  I  care 
for  Olive  very  much — perhaps  rnore  than,  considering  the 
circumstances  and  having  regard  to  my  own  peace  of  mind, 
is  quite  prudent — and  I  am  glad  you  think  I  have  a  chance." 


74 


THE.  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


"  A  chance  !  You  have  every  chance — good  looks,  a  good 
position,  good  manners,  a  stainless  character,  a  fair  future 
and  no  rivals — what  could  you  want  more  ?  " 

If  Mrs.  Prince  had  known  that  at  the  very  time  she  and 
Edward  were  concocting  this  ingenious  scheme  for  the  cap- 
ture of  Olive's  heart  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  beginning  to  question 
whether  it  was  not  in  danger  from  another  quarter,  the 
former  lady  might  have  seen  reason  to  modify  her  opinions 
and  revise  her  plans.  Mrs.  Lincoln  could  have  told  her 
that  despite  Charlie's  faults  and  the  other's  virtues,  Olive's 
preference  was  for  the  younger  and  (matrimonially)  less 
eligible  brother. 

Nevertheless,  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
her  daughter's  happiness  was  compromised  as  yet,  much  less 
that  Charlie  had  spoken  words  of  love  ;  but  young  people 
were  young  people,  and  the  latent  spark  might  easily  be 
kindled  into  a  flame  which  it  would  be  difficult,  perhaps  im- 
possible, to  control.  This  contingency  Mrs.  Lincoln  greatly 
deprecated.  Even  though  Charlie  were  a  desirable  parti,  it 
would  be  her  duty  to  respect  her  husband's  wishes  as  well 
in  the  spirit  as  the  letter,  and  the  surest  way  of  doing  so  was 
to  prevent  Olive  from  forming  any  attachment  whatever  for 
several  years  to  come. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  the  height  of  indiscretion 
to  talk  to  Olive  in  this  strain,  or  warn  her  against  Charlie. 
Indeed,  Mrs.  Lincoln  shrewdly  suspected  that  she  had  talked 
too  much  about  that  young  gentleman  already,  and  that  her 
somewhat  exaggerated  rejections  on  his  faults,  instead  of 
making  her  daughter  think  worse  of  him,  had  made  her  think 
better  of  him. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  exigencies  of  the  lawsuit,  the 
difficulty  might  easily  have  been  got  over  by  a  voyage  to 
America  or  a  trip  to  the  Continent.  But  neither  of  these 
expedients  being  admissible,  she  adopted  a  third,  which,  as 
she  believed,  would  prove  equally  effective. 

This  was  to  renounce  the  seclusion  in  which  she  had 
lived  since  her  husband's  death,  entertain  freely,  and  en- 
courage the  visits  of  young  men  and  maidens,  who  might, 
she  hoped,  prove  a  counter  attraction  to  Charlie. 

As  a  beginning,  she  resolved  to  give  a  breakfast  to  the 
hunt,  of  which  the  late  Mr.  Lincoln,  though  he  never  rode  to 
hounds,  had  been  a  liberal  supporter. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


75 


Mr.  Prince,  who  thought  she  had  mourned  quite  long 
enough,  and  delighted  in  anything  which  gave  eclat  to  the 
noble  sport  which  the  famous  Mr.  Jorrocks  happily  described 
as  the  image  of  war,  without  its  guilt  and  only  25  per  cent, 
of  its  danger,  warmly  approved  of  his  client's  design,  and  ren- 
dered her  every  help  in  his  power.  Negotiations  were  opened 
with  the  Master  and  Secretary  of  the  Hunt,  and  a  fortnight 
later  the  local  papers  announced  that  the  Riversdale  Hounds 
would  meet  at  All  Hallows  on  the  following  Monday  at  10.30 
(for  breakfast).  The  words  in  brackets,  it  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  observ^e,  referred  exclusively  to  the  biped  members 
of  the  hunt,  the  dietary  of  hounds  on  hunting  mornings  being 
strictly  limited  to  fox — when  they  can  catch  one. 

The  occasion  afforded  a  fine  opening  for  Edward  Prince, 
He  was  a  good  caterer,  an  adept  in  the  management  of  pic- 
nics, outings  and  parties,  and  made  himself  very  useful  to 
the  ladies  of  the  house.  Mrs.  Lincoln  left  all  the  details  to 
him  ;  and  the  butler  and  the  cook  were  ordered  to  place 
themselves  at  his  disposal.  The  result  justified  her  con- 
fidence, the  breakfast  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  and 
Edward  won  great  praise. 

On  the  eventful  morning  All  Hallows,  a  fine  old  country 
house  commanding  a  wide  prospect  of  green  valley  and 
sylvan  heights,  was  as  merry  as  a  fair.  Gay  cavaliers  were 
cantering  across  the  park,  dashing  dog-carts  driving  up  the 
avenue,  hounds  reposing  on  the  lawn,  led  horses  pacing  to 
and  fro  before  the  house.  The  portico,  the  hall  and  the 
dining-room  were  ablaze  with  scarlet,  and  brilliant  with  white 
breeches,  shining  boots,  and  resplendent  spurs.  The  gather- 
ing was  large,  for  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  invited  several  of  her 
neighbors  to  see  the  show,  and  some  had  come  to  break- 
fast whose  hunting  would  be  finished  when  the  first  fox  broke 
cover. 

At  one  end  of  the  principal  table  sat  Mr.  Prince  (who 
was  doing  the  honors  for  Mrs.  Lincoln),  at  the  other  Bertie 
Brown,  the  master  of  the  hounds  and  the  captain  of  the 
county  eleven,  a  long-limbed,  broad-shouldered  gentleman, 
whose  handsome  face  was  radiant  with  health  and  high 
spirits,  as  well  it  might  be,  seeing  that  its  owner  hunted  four 
days  a  week  in  winter  and  played  cricket  as  often  in  sum- 
mer, and  between  whiles  did  a  fair  amount  of  shooting  and 
fishing.     The  banquet  was  graced  with  the  presence  of  sev- 


76  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

eral  elderly  ladies  and  a  few  fair  girls ;  and  Olive's  bright 
eyes,  scarlet  jacket  and  broad-brimmed  low-crowned  hat 
turned  the  heads  of  at  least  half  a  dozen  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  hunt. 

Time  being  limited,  everybody  worked  at  high  speed,  and 
most  of  the  guests,  so  soon  as  they  had  finished,  gave  place 
to  later  comers  who  had  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  find 
seats.  Among  them  was  Charlie,  but  while  the  majority  of 
the  others  went  out  of  the  room  he  went  no  further  than  the 
back  of  Olive's  chair — a  fact  which  did  not  escape  the  notice 
either  of  his  brother  or  Mrs.  Lincoln. 

When  the  clock  on  the  mantelpiece  cuckooed  eleven  the 
master  stood  up  and  signified  that  he  had  something  to  say. 
But  his  erstwhile  radiant  face  had  become  pathetically 
solemn,  for  speech-making  was  more  abhorrent  to  him  than 
a  dodging  fox  or  a  hard  frost,  and  even  his  warmest  friends 
were  fain  to  admit  that  oratory  was  not  his  forte. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  began  in  faltering  accents, 
"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  to  thank  you — no,  I  don't — ■ 
I  mean  that  it  would  not  be  right  for  us  to  separate  without 
expressing  our  high  sense  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  kindness  in 
inviting  the  Riversdale  hounds  to  breakfast  this  morning, 
and  on  their  behalf " 

"  Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this  thing  t  "  in- 
terrupted the  waggish  secretary  in  a  sotto  voce  sufficiently 
audible  to  set  the  table  in  a  roar. 

"  Hang  it,  Rookwood,  don't  cross  a  fellow  in  that  waj-," 
exclaimed  the  master  with  a  bewildered  look,  and  pulling  up 
short.  "  What  the  dickens  .''  Ah,  I  see,  I  must  hark  back. 
I  beg  your  pardon,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  hounds  was  a  slip, 
I  meant  members  of  the  hunt " 

"  Gad  !  I  think  the  hounds  are  the  most  important  mem- 
bers of  the  hunt,"  muttered  the  irrepressible  secretary. 

"  If  you  don't  shut  up,  Bob,  I  shall — On  behalf  of  the 
hunt,  I  thank  Mrs.  Lincoln  for  her  hospitality,  also  for  the 
interest  she  takes  in  our  sport.  Her  covers  are  always  a 
sure  find ;  Charlie  Prince,  who  has  almost  as  keen  a  nose 
for  his  namesake  as  a  veteran  hound,  tells  me  that  an  un- 
commonly fine  fox  was  seen  in  Whitethorn  Wood  this  morn- 
ing. I  hope  he  is  there  yet  and  will  give  us  a  good  run. 
Gentlemen,  fill  your  glasses  and  join  me  in  drinking  the 
healths  of  our  highly  respected  hostess  and  her  lovely  daugh- 
ter." 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  77 

Mrs.  Lincoln  bowed,  Olive  smiled  and  blushed,  and  after 
the  healths  had  been  drunk  Mr,  Prince  responded  in  a  neat 
little  speech,  which  was  very  much  applauded.  He  had 
scarcely  sat  down  when  a  sporting  farmer,  whose  breeches 
and  boots  looked  as  if  they  had  been  heirlooms  in  his 
family  for  several  generations,  went  up  to  the  master  and 
whispered  something  in  his  ear. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Mr.  Brown  excitedly,  "  a  fox,  probably 
the  fox  I  alluded  to  just  now,  was  viewed  away  from  White- 
thorn Wood  five  minutes  ago.  If  the  hounds  are  laid  on  at 
once  we  may  have  a  good  run.  Perhaps  Mrs.  Lincoln  will 
kindly  excuse  us." 

The  words  were  hardly  out  of  his  mouth  when  there  was  a 
general  stampede  for  the  door  ;  and  the  next  moment  men 
were  rushing  wildly  about  in  all  directions,  looking  for 
their  horses,  calling  for  their  grooms  and  mounting  in  hot 
haste. 

Charlie  leant  over  to  Olive. 

"  Let  us  mount  quietly  in  the  stable-yard,  and  get  out  the 
back  way,"  he  said,  "  Come." 


78 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WELL  SAVED. 

Miss  Lincoln  followed  her  pilot  and  their  horses,  v/hich 
had  been  waiting  on  the  pillar  reins,  were  brought  out  at 
once.  Daisy  being  amiss,  Olive  was  going  to  ride  a  thorough- 
bred chestnut,  belonging  to  a  dealer,  which  her  mother  had 
promised  to  buy  for  her  if  the  horse  behaved  to  her  satisfac- 
tion. 

Charlie  had  tried  the  animal  a  few  days  previously,  and 
pronounced  him  to  be  a  fine  goer  and  a  good  jumper. 

"  But  you  will  have  to  be  careful  at  first,"  he  said  as  they 
rode  out  of  the  yard.  "  He  is  quiet  enough  by  himself,  but 
he  may  get  excited  with  hounds,  and  chestnuts  are  sometimes 
rather  hot." 

"  Oh,  I  think  I  can  manage  him.  He  seems  very  gentle, 
and  you  will  keep  near  me,  won't  you  .''  " 

"  Of  course  I  shall.     Don't  I  always  ?  " 

Olive  smiled.  She  was  quite  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
Charlie  generally  did  keep  near  her,  whether  in  the  hunting 
field  or  elsewhere. 

The  "  back  way  "  was  a  short  cut  which  brought  them  to 
Whitethorn  Wood  in  advance  of  the  crowd  and  just  as  the 
hounds  were  laid  on.  But  the  scent  had  grown  cold  almost 
to  notliingness,  and  as  Quickly,  the  huntsman,  did  not  believe 
in  pottering  about  to  no  purpose,  he  blew  his  horn  and  went 
off  at  a  canter  to  Lorton  Springs,  a  cover  about  two  miles 
distant,  which  was  probably  the  fox's  point.  The  way  thither 
led  across  some  large  grass  fields  and  through  a  line  of 
gates. 

So  far,  the  chestnut,  which  rejoiced  in  the  name  of  Rata- 
plan, had  been  quite  under  control,  but  with  the  hounds  be- 
fore him  and  a  hurrying  crowd  of  horses  behind  him  he  grew 
excited  and  began  to  pull. 

"  Not  so  fast,  Olive,"  said  the  watchful  Charlie,  "  if  he  gets 
fairly  into  his  stride  you  won't  be  able  to  stop  him." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  79 

"  I  am  doing  my  best,"  returned  Olive,  straining  at  the 
bridle,  "  but  the  harder  I  pull  the  faster  he  goes." 

Right  before  them  was  a  ditch,  bounded  on  the  further 
side  by  a  quickthorn  hedge,  which,  though  high,  seemed  too 
thin  to  be  either  difficult  or  dangerous  ;  but  Charlie  knew  it 
of  old. 

"  This  way,"  he  said,  "  there  is  a  gate  yonder,  and  that 
hedge  is  topped  with  wire  ;  it  would  be  certain  grief." 

"  He  will  neither  stop  nor  turn,"  cried  the  girl,  tugging  at 
the  reins  with  all  her  might. 

Charlie  rode  close  up  to  her,  and,  grasping  the  bridle,  tried 
to  pull  the  horse  round.  He  might  as  well  have  tried  to  turn 
a  steam-engine.  Rataplan  had  got  his  head  down,  and  seemed 
bent  on  charging  the  bullfinch. 

"  He  will  come  an  awful  cropper.  You  must  get  off,  Olive. 
Quick,  slip  your  foot  out  of  the  stirrup ;  see  that  your  skirt 
is  clear,  and  when  I  put  my  arm  around  your  waist,  throw 
yours  round  my  neck.     Now  !  " 

The  next  moment  Olive  was  on  Kitty's  back,  with  Charlie's 
arm  round  her  waist  and  as  the  young  fellow  turned  his  mare 
from  the  fence  Rataplan  rose  at  it,  but  he  was  going  too  fast 
to  jump  high,  and  hitting  the  almost  invisible  wire  with  his 
fore  legs  made  a  complete  somersault  in  the  air  and  landed 
in  the  next  field  on  his  back. 

"  Dear  Olive,  thank  God  you  are  safe  !  "  exclaimed  Charlie 
passionately. 

"  And  I  owe  my  life  to  you." 

"It  was  nothing.  Any  other  fellow  would  have  done  the 
same." 

"  But  no  other  fellow  did ;  and,  oh  Charlie,  I  would  rather 
owe  my  life  to  you  than  anybody  else  in  all  the  world." 

Her  face  was  very  pale,  but  her  eyes  were  bright,  and  there 
was  a  light  in  them  which  Charlie  had  never  seen  there  be- 
fore. 

Just  then  the  secretary  and  several  other  men,  who  had 
observed  the  incident  from  a  distance  galloped  up  to  offer 
their  help.  The  secretary  jumped  from  his  horse  and  assisted 
Olive,  who  was  half  fainting,  to  dismount. 

"  That  was  a  deuced  near  thing,  and  very  well  saved,"  he 
exclaimed.  "  The  beggar  bolted,  I  suppose.  Take  a  drink 
from  my  flask,  Miss  Lincoln  :  it  will  do  you  good." 

Olive  drank  and  felt  better.     Meanwhile,  Macadam  and 


8o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

the  butcher,  who  had  scrambled  through  the  bullfinch,  shouted 
that  Rataplan  was  all  right — he  had  fallen  in  a  soft  place — 
and  they  would  lead  him  round  to  the  gate. 

"  But  you  will  surely  not  ride  that  bolting  beggar  again, 
Miss  Lincoln,"  put  in  the  secretary.  "  He  may  bolt  when 
Charlie  Prince  is  somewhere  else,  and  you  would  be  in  the 
wrong  box  then." 

"  She  shall  have  Kitty,  and  I  will  ride  Rataplan,"  said 
Charlie,  "  then  she  wont  lose  the  day's  sport." 

"  But  wont  he  bolt  with  you  ?  "  asked  Olive  anxiously. 

"I  think  I  can  hold  him,  I  am  a  little  stronger  than  you 
(smiling).  Besides,  that  tumble  will  have  taken  the  devil  out 
of  him." 

It  seemed  so,  for  when  the  butcher  brought  him  round  to 
the  gate  the  horse  looked  as  quiet  as  a  lamb. 

The  saddles  were  changed  and  the  secretary  (who  was  the 
pink  of  politeness  where  ladies  were  concerned)  having 
helped  Olive  up,  they  resumed  their  interrupted  journey. 

Presently  Edward  overtook  them,  looking  not  very  happy. 
Albeit  he  had  resolved  not  to  lose  sight  of  Olive,  even  though 
he  should  break  his  neck,  he  had  made  a  bad  start,  owing  to 
the  temporary  disappearance  of  the  rustic  to  whom  he  had  en- 
trusted his  horse  ;  and  had  the  hounds  found  at  the  first  draw 
would  have  been  left  hopelessly  behind.  When  he  heard 
that  Charlie  had  saved  Olive  from  a  great  danger — probably 
from  death — by  a  brilliant  feat  of  horsemanship,  he  did  not 
feel  any  happier.  Nevertheless,  he  could  not  help  congratulat- 
ing her  and  complimenting  him — in  a  fashion. 

"  I  hope  you  have  quite  recovered  from  the  shock,  Miss 
Lincoln,"  he  said,  with  slightly  exaggerated  anxiety. 

"  Quite,  thank  you  ;  but  I  confess  that  when  I  saw  that 
wire,  and  Rataplan  would  not  stop,  I  was  horribly  fright- 
ened." 

"  Of  course  you  were  ;  I  should  have  been  myself,"  returned 
Edward,  sympathetically.  "It  was  very  well  done  of  my 
brother,  very  well  done,.  How  fortunate  he  was  with  you. 
All  the  same,  Charlie,  I  am  rather  surprised  you  did  not  dis- 
cover that  the  horse  was  a  bolter  when  you  tried  him  the 
other  day." 

"  When  I  tried  him  the  other  day  he  was  as  easy  to  hold 
as  a  parson's  hack.  You  forget,  too,  that  Bristowe  said  he 
was  quiet  with  hounds  and  a  perfect  lady's  hunter.     Besides, 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  8 1 

I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  the  horse  is  a  bolter.  He  was 
very  fresh,  and  when  he  heard  the  field  clattering  behind  him 
got  excited.  Exercise  him  regularly,  and  ride  him  to  hounds 
twice  a  week,  and  he  will  be  as  safe  a  mount  as  Daisy." 

Olive  was  about  to  say  that  Charlie  had  acted  nobly,  and 
to  protest  that  he  deserved  unqualified  praise,  when  a  thought, 
suggested  by  a  new-born  prudence,  arrested  the  words  on  her 
lips,  and,  turning  to  Edward,  she  inquired  how  he  had  left 
his  mother,  rather  to  his  bewilderment.  But  as  he  always 
assumed — unless  there  was  strong  evidence  to  the  contrary 
— that  other  people  took  him  as  seriously  as  he  took  himself, 
he  answered  with  becoming  gravity  that  his  mother,  though 
not  fully  recovered  from  her  cold,  was  much  better. 

When  they  reached  Lorton  Springs  the  hounds  were  being 
"blown  out."  Reynard  was  not  there.  After  a  word  with 
the  master,  Quickly  led  the  eager  pack  to  a  third  cover,  Rak- 
low  Park,  at  so  fast  a  pace  that  the  hindmost  hunters 
imagined  that  the  hounds  were  running,  and  did  not  discover 
their  mistake  until  they  overtook  the  main  body. 

A  big  cover  was  the  so  called  park,  with  deep  winding 
rides,  and  so  difficult  to  get  away  from  that  even  hard  riders 
were  sometimes  left  sorrowing  in  the  fastnesses  of  its  impene- 
trable thickets. 

By  the  advice  of  the  urbane  secretary,  who,  having  been 
brought  up  in  the  way  he  should  go,  knew  every  brake  and 
bush  in  the  country,  Olive,  the  Princes,  and  several  others 
took  up  a  strategic  position  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the 
cover. 

"  Here,"  he  said,  "  we  command  a  view  of  two  sides. 
Whether  the  fox  breaks  this  way  or  that  we  shall  see  him. 
If  he  breaks  yonder  we  shall  hear  the  whip's  view  hallo,  if  on 
the  other  side,  Quickly's  horn.  Now  silence  in  the  rank !  if 
you  please." 

The  secretary's  prescience  was  justified  by  the  event. 

"  What  is  that,  Charlie  ?  "  asked  Olive,  a  few  minutes  later, 
pointing  to  a  dark  object  which  was  gliding  across  a  stubble 
field  some  two  or  three  hundred  yards  from  where  they  stood. 

"  That  is  the  fox.  Miss  Lincoln,"  answered  the  secretary. 
"  He  has  stolen  out  of  the  cover  unbeknown,  as  Mrs.  Gamp 
would  say.  But  keep  quiet  until  he  is  fairly  away,  or  those 
loitering  fools  in  that  old  lane  will  either  head  him  back  or 
get  before  the  hounds." 

6 


82  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

But  when  reynard  was  in  the  next  field  and  had  put  a 
brook  with  rotten  banks  between  himself  and  the  loitering 
fools  in  question,  the  secretary  and  Charlie  gave  a  series  of 
view  hallos  that  made  the  horses  prick  their  ears,  and  nearly 
frightened  to  death  a  poor  hare  which  had  been  hiding  in  her 
form.  Before  the  echo  of  them  died  away.  Quickly,  followed 
by  his  pack,  leaped  from  the  wood,  and  soon  the  baying  of 
the  hounds  proclaimed  that  the  chase  had  begun. 

"  Over  the  brook  by  the  bridge,"  said  Charlie,  leading  the 
way.     "  We  shall  nick  in  on  the  other  side." 

Which  they  did,  just  as  the  hounds,  closely  followed  by 
the  master  and  Quickly  (who  had  done  the  brook  despite 
its  rotten  bank),  were  streaming  over  a  big  pasture,  bounded 
by  a  flight  of  posts  and  rails,  which  was  easily  done  by  the 
timber  jumpers ;  the  others  rode  for  a  gate. 

For  fifteen  minutes  or  so  the  pace  was  fast  and  furious  ; 
then,  after  a  short  check  it  became  slower,  yet  not  too  slow 
for  enjoyment — more  enjoyable  indeed  for  folks  who  liked  to 
look  about  them  and  had  an  eye  for  the  picturesque.  They 
were  in  the  best  of  the  Riversdale  country,  a  country  which 
though  mostly  under  plough  rode  light  and  carried  a  good 
scent,  slightly  undulating  and  intersected  by  ditches  so  wide 
that  the  man  and  horse  who  went  in  were  seen  no  more  until 
they  got  out — yet  quite  practicable  for  resolute  jumpers  and 
riders  of  nerve.  No  use  looking  for  gaps  or  riding  for  places  ; 
those  who  did  not  take  things  as  they  came  had  to  stop 
behind  or  make  ignobly  for  the  nearest  road. 

As  the  chase  swept  on,  the  sun,  which  had  been  hiding 
all  the  morning,  came  out,  nobly  investing  the  far-away  hills 
and  brightening  the  brown  fields  and  dark  woodlands  with 
the  wondrous  witchery  of  his  smile ;  and  all  this  beauty, 
blending  with  the  sights  and  sounds  of  sylvan  war,  red-coats 
and  galloping  horses,  the  cries  of  men,  and  the  music  of 
hounds,  gladdened  still  more  the  two  young  souls  who  had 
just  made  the  supreme  discovery  of  their  lives — that  they 
loved  and  ■were  loved. 

They  talked  in  snatches :  it  is  not  easy  to  keep  up  a 
conversation  when  hounds  are  running. 

"  Are  you  enjoying  it,  Olive  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Can  you  ask .-"     So  much." 

"  You  look  so.     Your  eyes  are  as  bright  as  the  sun." 

"  Oh,  Charlie  !     But  mind  what  you  say — somebody  might 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  83 

— and  your  brother  is  close  behind.     How  well  he  is  going." 

Edward  was  going  well.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
keep  close  to  Olive,  and  as  he  was  riding  the  cleverest 
horse  in  his  father's  stud  he  had  no  difficulty  in  sticking  to 
his  resolve.  He  needed  merely  to  stick  on,  and  though  he 
had  no  stomach  for  the  sport  and  never  took  a  jump  without 
fearing  a  fall,  the  thought  that  he  was  gaining  credit  with 
Miss  Lincoln  for  his  bold  riding  and  preventing  her  from 
getting  too  thick  v/ith  Charlie  steeled  his  nerves  and  converted 
what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  penance  into  the  sem- 
blance of  a  pleasure. 

After  a  run  of  two  hours,  the  latter  part  of  it  rather  drag- 
ging, the  fox  was  handsomely  killed  in  the  open,  and  the 
brush  awarded  to  Miss  Lincoln.  Then  the  hounds  went 
further  afield  to  draw  again ;  but  as  Olive  said  she  was  tired 
and  Charlie  declared  that  Rataplan  had  had  enough,  and 
Edward  said  he  had,  they  decided  to  hie  them  home,  as  did 
most  of  the  others  who  had  no  second  horses  out,  they  turned 
their  backs  on  the  field  and  their  faces  towards  Peele. 

Olive  rode  between  the  brothers  and  was  very  gracious  to 
Edward,  complimenting  him  warmly  on  his  riding,  though 
not  quite  as  judiciously  as  she  might  have  done. 

"  You  went  as  well  as  anybody,"  she  said.  "  With  a  little 
more  practice  you  will  soon  be  as  good  a  man  with  hounds 
as  Charlie." 

"  It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  say  so,  Miss  Lincoln,  but  I  am 
sure  I  shall  never  be  Charlie's  equal  in  horsemanship.  He 
gives  his  mind  to  it,  I  don't,"  answered  Edward,  in  a  tone 
which  implied  that  he  held  horsemanship  in  light  esteem. 

"  Well,  if  you  want  to  excel  in  anything  you  must  give 
your  mind  to  it,  mustn't  you .-'  You  give  your  mind  to  law, 
therefore  you  excel  as  a  lawyer.  But  would  it  not  be  pos- 
sible for  a  man  to  excel  in  both — like  your  father,  for  in- 
stance." 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  my  father  does  excel  as  a  lawyer. 
But  there  was  no  examinations  in  his  time.  He  owes  his 
success  rather  to  native  shrewdness,  sound  judgment  and 
capacity  for  business  than  profound  knowledge." 

"  No  matter,  he  excels.  And  you  forget  his  high  sense  of 
honor  and  his  pleasantly  genial  manner,  so  important  in  a 
lawyer." 

*'  It  is  not  for  me  to  praise  my  father,  Miss  Lincoln.     But 


84  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

you  are  quite  right.  Character,  and  manner  which  inspires 
confidence  are  more  essential  to  success — at  any  rate  in  a 
country  lawyer — than  mere  knowledge  of  the  law,"  he 
answered,  wondering  at  the  same  time  what  she  would  say  if 
she  were  to  know  about  the  broken  trust. 

Charlie  listened  in  silence,  but  he  guessed  that  some  of 
Olive's  remarks  were  intended  for  him. 

"  She  wants  me  to  take  the  pater  for  my  example,"  he 
thought,  "  and  I  will." 

The  brothers  saw  Olive  home. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  ask  you  to  stay,"  she  said  as  they 
reined  up  at  the  door,  "  my  mother  is  gone  to  town  and  won't 
be  back  till  dinner-time.  Will  you  change  saddles  here, 
Charlie  .?  " 

"  No,  I  will  ride  round  to  the  stables.  You  go  on,  Ned. 
I'll  overtake  you  before  you  get  to  the  lodge  gates." 

Whereupon,  after  shaking  hands  with  the  two  cavaliers 
and  bidding  them  good-night,  Miss  Lincoln  tripped  into  the 
house. 

As  Charlie  was  mounting  his  horse  in  the  stable-yard  a 
man  put  a  note  into  his  hand. 

*'  From  Miss  Olive,"  he  said. 

It  contained  these  words ;  "  At  four  to-morrow  afternoon, 
in  the  King's  Path." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  85 


CHAPTER    XT. 

"their  first  tryst." 

On  the  next  day  Charlie  was  early  at  the  ofBce,  and,  having 
an  object  in  view,  worked  with  unwonted  diligence.  He 
draughted  a  rather  complicated  lease  so  well  that  Lillywhite 
declared  he  could  not  have  done  it  better  himself,  and  Mr. 
Prince  said  the  same. 

Shortly  before  three  o'clock,  Charley,  having  finished  his 
lease,  went  into  his  father's  room. 

"  I  am  going  to  Fountains,"  he  said  ;  "  one  of  the  chimneys 
is  in  a  very  bad  way,  and  Pringle  wants  somebody  to  look 
at  it." 

"  Yes,  you  had  better  ;  but  take  care  what  you  promise. 
If  we  let  the  account  for  disbursements  get  too  high  we  shall 
have  his  lordship  complaining  again.  1  suppose  you  will  be 
back  in  time  to  go  home  with  us  in  the  dog-cart  ?  " 

"  No,  I  think  I  shall  walk  home  by  the  fields.  One  gets  so 
little  walking  in  the  hunting  season." 

"  Anyhow,  you  won't  be  late  for  dinner." 

"  Trust  me  for  that ;  I  have  always  a  frightful  appetite  the 
day  after  hunting." 

Fountains  was  a  farmhouse  in  the  neighborhood  of  All 
Hallows,  and  thither,  after  leaving  the  office,  the  young  fellow 
went  with  swift  strides.  The  chimney  was,  of  course,  only  a 
pretext.  A  few  days  previously  he  had  met  Mr.  Pringle 
"  promiscuous  in  the  street,"  when  that  gentleman  casually 
observed  that  his  kitchen  chimney  was  tumbling  down,  and 
suggested  that  the  "  mending  of  it "  was  rather  a  landlord's 
job  than  a  tenant's. 

Pringle  seemed  surprised  that  Charlie  had  taken  his  joke 
seriously,  and  after  showing  him  the  chimney  and  his  prize 
bullocks,  invited  him  to  step  inside  and  have  a  glass  of  home- 
brewed. Charlie  being,  as  he  said,  pressed  for  time,  prayed 
to  be  excused,  and  after  taking  leave  of  the  farmer  made  a 
bee  line  for  All  Hallows,  whistling  blithely  as  he  crossed  the 


86  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

fields,  vaulting  all  the  gates,  and  feeling  generally  as  if  he 
were  walking  in  air.  For  was  he  not  going  to  his  first  love 
tryst  ?  Little  recked  the  high-spirited  lad  just  then  of  pru- 
dence and  caution,  of  impending  difiiculties  and  possible 
trials. 

"  Olive  !  Olive  !  Dear  Olive  !  She  loves  me.  She  loves 
me,"  was  his  sole  thought,  a  thought  which  quenched  every 
doubt  and  silenced  every  misgiving. 

And  was  it  not  better  so  ?  Youth  is  the  time  of  illusion 
and  love,  the  time  when  life  seems  endless,  and  the  future 
has  no  terrors.  Let  those  to  whom  it  is  given  enjoy  it  while 
they  may. 

As  Charlie  drew  near  All  Hallows  he  sobered  down  some- 
what, and  looked  sharply  about  him.  The  house,  which  oc- 
cupied the  site  of  an  ancient  hunting-lodge  built  by  Henry 
VIII.,  stood  on  the  brow  of  a  gentle  acclivity,  overlooking  a 
spacious  park,  dotted  with  noble  trees  and  begirt  with  broad 
woodlands.  The  King's  Path  (so  called  after  the  much-mar- 
ried monarch),  where  Olive  had  asked  Charlie  to  meet  her, 
was  a  sequestered  walk  winding  between  laurel  bushes  and 
leading  to  a  small  lake,  nestling  in  a  grove  of  copper  beeches 
and  weeping  willows,  invisible  from  the  house. 

Though  the  time  was  winter,  the  weather  was  mild,  and  the 
air  balmy.  The  setting  sun  was  raining  gold  on  Whitethorn 
Wood,  and  as  he  sank  below  the  horizon  a  crescent  moon 
mirrored  itself  in  the  still  waters  of  the  tiny  lake. 

It  was  an  ideal  trysting-place. 

Charlie,  guessing  that  Olive  did  not  want  him  to  venture 
too  near  the  house,  leaned  against  the  bole  of  a  lordly  beech 
tree  and  waited.  He  was  too  happy  to  be  impatient,  and  his 
thoughts  were  of  the  pleasantest,  and  he  knew  she  would 
come. 

Presently  a  light  hand  touched  him  on  the  shoulder. 
While  he  was  looking  one  way,  Olive  had  come  another,  and 
the  soft  carpet  of  fallen  leaves  deadened  her  footsteps. 

"  Dear  Olive !  How  good  of  you  to  come,"  he  exclaimed, 
turning  to  her. 

He  would  have  clasped  her  in  his  arms,  but  young  love  is 
often  timid,  and  not  yet  daring  to  do  more,  he  took  both  her 
hands. 

"  Dear  Olive  !  How  good  of  you  to  come,"  he  repeated 
ardently. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  87 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  quite  right  ;  but  after  yester- 
day it  seemed  necessary  to  have  an  explanation — I  feared 
you  would  be  committing  some  imprudence,  and  there  may 
be  no  other  opportunity  for  a  long  time.  But,  first  of  all,  let 
me  thank  you  again  for  saving  me  from  a  danger  which,  if  it 
had  not  been  my  death,  would  almost  certainly  have  made 
me  a  cripple  for  life.  I  am  really  very  grateful,  Charlie  ;  so 
is  my  mother,  as  she  will  tell  you  when  you  call.  How  can 
I  thank  you  enough  ?  " 

"  By  letting  me  kiss  you  and  saying  you  love  me." 

Then  Charlie,  taking  silence  for  consent,  and  growing 
bolder,  drew  her  to  him,  and  looked  into  her  love-bright  eyes, 
and  took  love's  tribute  from  her  yielding  lips. 

"  You  love  me  ? "  he  said,  still  holding  her  in  his  arms. 

"  Do  you  think  I  should  be  here  if  I  did  not  ?  "  she  returned 
with  a  happy  laugh.  "  But  until  yesterday  I  knew  not  myself 
how  much.  I  thought  my  affection  for  you  was  no  more  than 
sisterly.  But  when  I  felt  that  I  was  safe  in  your  arms,  and 
I  looked  up  at  your  face,  and  heard  you  call  me  dear 
Olive,  it  was  like  a  revelation.  I  learnt  the  truth.  What  did 
I  say  ?     I  am  afraid  it  was  something  very  foolish." 

"  That  you  would  rather  I  had  saved  you  than  anybody 
else ;  which  meant,  I  thought,  that  you  loved  me  better  than 
anybody  else." 

"  You  might  have  made  a  worse  guess,  my  Prince.  But 
it  must  be  all  love,  remember." 

"  Naturally,  my  sweet  Olive.     Is  not  love  lord  of  all  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  mean  in  that  sense,  you  foolish  boy.  I  meant 
that  we  must  not  be  engaged." 

"  In  love  and  not  engaged  !  How  can  that  be,  Olive  ? 
You  talk  in  riddles.     What  is  the  difference  ?  " 

"  Immense.  We  cannot  help  being  in  love  ;  love  comes  of 
itself,  but  we  may  help  being  engaged.  In  the  one  case  we 
can  keep  it  to  ourselves,  in  the  other  we  should  have  to  tell 
everybody.  You  would  have  to  ask  my  mother's  consent, 
which  you  would  not  get,  and  tell  your  own  people,  and  that 
might  lead  to  trouble." 

"  So  1     You  think  your  mother  would  not  consent." 

"  I  am  sure.  My  father  disapproved  of  early  marriages. 
I  am  forbidden  to  marry  before  I  am  twenty-one,  and  my 
mother  disapproves  of  long  engagements,  and  I  fear  she 
would  also  disapprove  of  you." 


88  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Personally,  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Personally,  in  the  sense  that  she  thinks  you  take  life 
too  easily  and  your  character  is  unformed.  But  that  is  not 
the  point.  She  would  not  consent  to  an  engagement  now, 
though  you  were  all  she  could  wish  ;  and  if  you  were  to  ask 
and  be  refused  you  could  not  come  any  more  to  our  house  ; 
we  should  not  be  allowed  to  meet,  and  that  would  not  be 
nice,  and  if  I  marry  without  the  consent  of  my  guardians, 
who  would,  of  course,  be  guided  by  my  mother,  I  forfeit 
my  fortune." 

"  I  don't  care  anything  about  your  fortune." 

"  But  I  do,  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  only  fools  des- 
pise money,  and  I  think  he  was  right.  It  would  be  dreadful 
to  marry  on  narrow  means.  Fancy  not  being  able  to  buy 
pictures  and  have  things,  and  go  on  the  Continent  or  to 
America  whenever  you  wanted.  You  must  let  it  be  as  I  say, 
if  you  please,  dear." 

"  I  see,"  said  Charlie  thoughtfully,  "  we  are  to  regard  our- 
selves as  being  in  love,  but  not  engaged.  Being  in  love  is 
a  state  of  mind  ;  an  engagement  is  a  quasi-contract.  But  how 
long .? " 

"  Until  I  am  of  age.     I  shall  be  eighteen  next  month." 

"  So  long?" 

"  Well,  perhaps  my  mother  might  consent  to  our  being 
engaged  when  I  am  twenty,  or  so — if  you  wish  it  very  much, 
and  please  her  in  the  meantime.  But  what  does  it  matter  so 
long  as  we  love  each  other.  Engaged  couples  are  so  stupid. 
Three  months  wall  be  quite  long  enough  to  be  ridiculous. 
And  there  is  another  reason  for  not  saying  anything — Ed- 
ward." 

"  I  think  I  know  what  you  mean.  Well,  we  must  keep  him 
in  the  dark — as  long  as  we  can.  I  say,  Olive,  what  a  wise 
little  head  you  have  got." 

"  It  is  an  American  head,  Charlie,  that  is  the  reason.  Now 
you  must  promise  not  to  be  jealous  if  I  seem  to  prefer  Edward 
to  you  sometimes,  and  let  other  men  pay  me  little  attentions 
— only,  of  course,  to  hoodwink  the  censorious  and  suspi- 
cious." 

"  All  right  !  I  promise.  Am  I  to  consider  myself  at  lib- 
erty to  pay  little  attentions  to  other  girls — to  hoodwink  the 
suspicious,  you  know." 

"  Certainly  not.     The    idea  !     Other    girls,  indeed  !     All 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  89 

you  have  to  do  is  not  to  pay  me  marked  attention — in  public  ; 
or  look  at  me  too  often  or  too  ardently.  If  you  do  1  shall 
flirt  outrageously,  so  mind." 

And  then  as  if  to  enforce  the  admonition,  she  gave  him  a 
playful  tap  on  the  cheek,  which  Charlie  resented,  as  a  Chris- 
tain  should,  with  a  kiss. 

"  But  surely,  Olive,  you  will  meet  me  here  sometimes,  or 
elsewhere,"  he  said  ruefully. 

"  If  you  are  good  and  discreet  ;  and  if  we  play  our  parts 
properly  and  keep  them  in  the  dark  we  shall  have  many  op- 
portunities of  exchanging  a  word.  So  long  as  we  don't  seem 
to  care  for  each  other  you  will  be  a  welcome  guest  at  All  Hal- 
lows. And  now  I  am  going  to  read  you  a  lecture.  You 
won't  be  vexed  ?  " 

Charlie  warmly  protested  that  he  would  not  be  vexed  what- 
ever she  said,  and  putting  his  arm  round  her  waist  and  tak- 
ing one  of  her  hands  in  his  he  bade  her  begin. 

"You  are  a  foolish  boy,"  she  said,  smiling  and  nestling  up 

to  him,  "  and  I  have  a  great  mind  to " 

"  What  ?  " 

"  Leave  you  right  away.     Let  me  go." 
"  Not  until  I  have  had  my  lecture." 

"We  will  take  that  as  read,  then,  as  they  do  at  meetings," 
she  said  with  a  smile.  "  You  had  the  substance  of  it  as  we 
rode  home  after  that  good  run  with  the  harriers.  But  then  I 
was  talking  to  you  merely  as  a  friend,  rather  telling  you  what 
my  mother  said  than  I  myself  thought ;  and  perhaps  she  ex- 
aggerated, hoping  thereby  to  make  me  think  less  of  you." 
"  And  she  did  not  succeed." 

"  No,  dear.  All  the  same,  I  want  my  mother  and  my  peo- 
ple in  New  England  to  think  well  of  you — when  they  know — 
and  if  they  hear  that  you  are  merely  a  lawyer's  clerk,  and 
that  you  give  all  your  energy  and  your  time  to  sport  I  am 
afraid  it  will  be  just  the  other  way.  In  America — I  mean  in 
New  England,  for  I  know  nothing  of  the  South — everybody 
works,  the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor.  My  mother  says  she 
would  not  give  a  fig  for  the  man  who  has  no  occupation,  or 
who,  having  one,  does  not  put  all  his  energies  into  it.  You 
have  now  a  great  chance  of  securing  yourself  in  her  good 
opinion.  She  is  grateful  for  what  you  did  yesterday  ;  and 
thinks  even  that  there  is  some  advantage  in  fine  horsemanship. 
It  is  not  a  question  of  money.     You  will  have  some  ;  I  shall 


9° 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


have  a  great  deal ;  it  is  a  question  of  having  a  purpose.  And 
I  need  not  say  how  anxious  I  am  that  my  Prince  should  be 
well  thought  of  by  all  who  are  dear  to  me." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  asked  Charlie,  after  a  minute's  thought. 

"  Yes  I  have  said  my  say." 

"  And  a  very  good  say  too.  What  terribly  earnest  people 
they  must  be  in  New  England  ;  and  I  really  don't  see  the 
good  of  being  rich  if  you  have  to  work  as  hard  as  if  you  were 
poor.  However,  I  am  not  rich,  and  I  quite  agree  with  you 
that  I  ought  to  work  harder  than  I  have  done.  I  knew  that 
you  would  expect  me  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  and  I  began 
this  morning,  and  did  so  well  as  to  win  high  praise  both  from 
my  father  and  Lillywhite.  And  I  mean  to  go  on.  I  will  win 
your  mother's  good  opinion,  and  when  you  meet  your  toiling 
kinsfolk  in  New  England  you  shall  have  no  reason  to  be 
ashamed  of  your  young  man.  For  the  remainder  of  the  season 
I  shall  hunt  only  two  days  a  week.  I  am  through  with  my 
articles.  Next  year  my  father  will  give  me  a  small  interest, 
and  I  shall  become  a  member  of  the  firm.  As  for  a  purpose, 
I  have  a  threefold  purpose — to  be  as  smart  a  lawyer  as  Ned, 
as  honorable  a  gentleman  as  my  father,  and  to  make  myself 
worthy  of  the  love  of  the  best  and  dearest  and  sweetest  girl 
in  the  world." 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  you  have  made  me  so  happy  !  "  she  cried 
joj'ously.  "  And  you  are  so  clever  that  you  can  be  anything 
you  like." 

"  Didn't  you  know  that  before  ?  " 

"  I  knew  you  were  good  and  brave,  but  I  was  not  so  sure 
about  the  cleverness.  And — afterwards — my  fortune  will  be 
yours,  you  know — you  must  run  for  Parliament — I  am  sure 
you  could  get  in  for  Peele — you  must  run  for  Parliament  and 
become  a  great  statesman — perhaps  Prime  Minister." 

"  Hadn't  I  better  go  to  America,  and  run  for  the  Presi- 
dency ?  " 

"  You  couldn't.  You  are  not  a  born  American.  You 
might  get  naturalized  and  go  into  Congress.  But  no,  that 
would  not  be  good  enough  ;  the  best  people  don't  go  into 
Congress  ;  our  politicians,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are,  for  the  most 
part,  scallawags." 

"  That  sounds  very  dreadful,  dear,  though  I  have  not  the 
least  idea  what  it  is.  Still,  on  the  whole,  I  think  I  would 
rather  be  an  English  Premier  than  an  American  scallawag. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEEL  E.  91 

I  once  thought  of  being  a  general ;  in  dreams  I  have  been 
an  M.  F.  H.  But  I  daresay  the  Premiership  would  suit  me 
almost  as  well.     Yes,  I  decide  for  the  Premiership." 

After  the  laugh  which  this  sally  provoked  had  subsided, 
and  Olive  had  observed  that  more  unlikely  things  had  hap- 
pened, she  bethought  her  that  it  was  time  for  them  to  part. 
Her  mother  would  be  wondering  where  she  was  ;  and  if  she 
should  send  one  of  the  maids  to  look  for  her  the  result  would 
be  too  awful  to  contemplate.  Charlie  appreciated  too  keenly 
the  necessity  of  prudence  to  press  his  sweetheart  to  prolong 
her  stay. 

He  went  with  her  to  a  point  where  the  path  bent  towards 
the  house — she  would  not  let  him  go  further  for  fear  he  should 
be  seen — and  there  they  parted  as  lovers  (engaged  or  other- 
wise) are  wont  to  part. 

Charlie  jumped  no  gates  as  he  wended  hom.ewards  ;  for 
though  happy  and  exultant,  his  exultation  was  not  altogether 
free  from  apprehension.  He  had  accepted  new  responsibil- 
ities, and  the  position  of  an  accepted  yet  unbetrothed  lover 
was  not  entirely  to  his  mind.  And  if  Ned  were  kept  in  the 
dark  and  Olive  led  him  to  think  that  he  was  not  indifferent 
to  her.  he  would  have  just  cause  for  complaint,  and  when  he 
knew  the  truth  there  would  be  a  bitter  quarrel,  much  unpleas- 
antness and,  perhaps,  lifelong  enmity  between  his  brother 
and  himself,  to  the  great  distress  of  his  father  and  mother. 
The  possibility  was  undeniable,  and  Charlie  could  not  help 
asking  himself  whether  it  would  not  be  better  for  him  and 
Olive  to  avow  their  love  and  take  the  consequences  ?  But 
Olive  thought  differently ;  her  will  was  his  law,  and  when 
he  remembered  that  the  avowal  would  be  followed  by  an 
interdict  on  their  lovemaking  and,  probably,  by  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
departure  from  the  neighborhood,  he  felt  that  he  had  not 
the  courage  to  advise,  or  adopt,  so  bold  a  course. 

"  There  will  be  a  row  in  any  case,"  he  soliloquized  ;  _ "  what 
is  the  good  of  meeting  it  half-way  ?  If  we  can  put  it  off  a 
couple  of  years  that  will  be  so  much  to  the  good." 

"  How  about  Pringle's  chimney  ?  "  asked  his  father  Avhen 
they  met  at  dinner. 

""^I  had  my  walk  for  nothing.  The  chimney  only  wanted 
pointing  and  a  new  pot,  and  Pringle  had  it  done  himself."  _ 

"  Just  like  Pringle ;  he  always  calls  out  before  he  is 
hurt." 


92 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"  Pringle  !  You  must  have  been  close  to  All  Hallows.  Did 
you  call  ?  "  asked  Edward  suspiciously. 

"  No  !  But  I  suppose  it  will  be  our  duty  to  call  in  the 
course  of  the  week.     W^ill  you  go  with  me  ?  " 

Edward  would  rather  have  gone  alone,  but  seeing  that  if 
he  went  alone,  Charles  would  also  go  alone,  he  said  "yes," 
and  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  call  on  the  following 
Thursday. 

Both  he  and  his  mother  had  been  a  good  deal  exercised  in 
their  minds  by  Charlie's  rescue  of  Olive. 

"  I  am  glad  he  showed  so  much  courage  and  presence  of 
mind,  and  it  is  a  mercy  dear  Olive  was  not  killed,"  said  Mrs. 
Prince.  "  But  I  wish  you  had  been  the  rescuer.  It  is  just 
the  sort  of  thing  that  makes  an  impression  on  a  young  girl's 
mind — dramatic  and  romantic  and  that.  However,  as  Charlie 
cares  nothing  about  girls,  and  is  not  her  ideal,  I  don't  think 
any  harm  will  come  of  it." 

Whatever  misgivings  Edward  might  have  had  were  set  at 
rest  by  his  visit  to  All  Hallows.  Mrs.  Lincoln  thanked  Charlie 
warmly  for  his  rescue  of  Olive  and  lauded  his  gallantry,  and 
while  he  talked  with  the  mother  Edward  talked  with  the 
daughter,  who  seemed  pleased  with  his  company  and  was 
more  gracious  to  him  than  she  had  ever  been  before.  But 
while  her  smiles  were  for  him,  the  responsive  pressure  of  her 
hand  was  for  Charlie,  and  both  brothers  went  away  happy, 
the  one  in  the  belief  that  he  had  made  an  impression,  the 
other  in  the  assurance  that  he  was  the  favored  swain. 

As  owing  to  bad  weather  and  stress  of  circumstances  the 
King's  Path  was  not  always  available  the  lovers  had  to  do 
most  of  their  courting  in  the  hunting  field.  It  was  the  only 
place  where  they  could  talk  freely ;  and  as  Mrs.  Lincoln  had 
asked  Charlie  to  act  as  her  daughter's  pilot  he  was  doing  no 
more  than  his  duty  in  looking  after  her.  Nevertheless,  when 
Edward  was  out  she  rather  affected  his  companj',  and  gave 
him  frequent  opportunity  of  paying  her  the  little  attentions 
to  which  his  mother  attached  so  much  importance.  This 
was  generally  when  they  were  riding  to  the  meet  or  drawing 
the  first  cover  ;  for,  after  the  fox  went  away,  he  had  to  give 
place  to  his  younger  brother,  and,  as  often  as  not,  was  either 
left  behind  or  thrown  out,  the  result  being  that  three  times 
out  of  four  Olive  and  Charlie  found  themselves  together  at 
the  close  of  the  day,  and  had  a  delightful  ride  home  together. 


THE  PRIA-CES  OF  PEELE. 


93 


On  the  whole,  however,  Edward  was  well  satisfied  with  the 
way  in  which  things  were  shaping.  The  hunting  season 
would  not  last  forever,  and  when  it  was  over  his  innings 
would  begin.  Meanwhile,  as  the  result  of  close  observation, 
he  had  arrived  at  three  very  definite  and  comforting  assur- 
ances— that  his  attentions  were  beginning  to  tell,  that  Olive's 
liking  for  Charlie,  never  more  than  a  feeling  of  ca??iaraderie, 
was  fast  changing  into  indifference,  and  that  Charlie  had  not 
yet  turned  his  thoughts  to  love.  Rather  was  he  turning  them 
to  business,  buckling  to,  as  his  father  and  Lillywhite  always 
said  he  would,  and  working  almost  as  industriously  as  his 
elders. 

From  all  of  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  lovers  were 
playing  their  parts  well.  They,  too,  were  satisfied,  so  were 
Mrs.  Lincoln  and  Mrs.  Prince, — the  one  because  she  felt 
sure  that  her  fears  touching  the  relations  of  her  daughter  and 
Charlie  were  groundless  ;  the  other  because  she  was  equally 
confident  that  her  plan  for  a  marriage  between  Olive  and 
Edward  was  working  to  a  successful  issue. 


94- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

THROWN     OUT. 

It  was  one  of  the  last  days  of  the  season  :  the  winter  was 
past  and  spring  was  coming  forth  in  all  her  glory.  The 
erstwhile  dark  wheat  fields  had  donned  their  livery  of  green; 
farmers  were  busy  harrowing  their  meadows  and  making  up 
their  fences ;  hedgerows  were  beginning  to  bud,  birds  to 
build  their  nests,  and  gentleman  foxes  to  ramble  from  their 
native  wilds  and  be  out  o'  nights. 

It  was  one  of  the  last  days  of  the  season  and  the  Riversdale 
hounds  were  meeting  at  Blackthorn.  Not  a  favorite  fixture 
by  any  means,  Blackthorn  being  a  great  wood,  as  big  as  a 
small  forest,  where  it  was  easy  to  go  astray,  and  which  it  was 
difiicult  to  make  a  fox  quit.  On  the  other  hand,  Blackthorn 
was  a  sure  find,  and  when  the  hounds  got  away  with  one  of 
the  right  sort  the  result  was  generally  satisfactory  to  the  for- 
tunate few  who  happened  to  see  him  break  cover  or  hear  the 
halloes  of  those  who  did ;  to  the  residue  and  remainder  con- 
fusion and  disappointment. 

Nevertheless,  there  was  a  full  muster,  for  the  weather  was 
propitious,  and  devotees  of  the  sport  were  eager  to  put  in  all 
the  hunting  they  could  before  Diana  for  a  season  bade  the 
world  farewell. 

Among  those  present  were  Olive  Lincoln  and  the  two 
Princes,  who,  with  their  horses,  had  "  railed  "  from  Peele  to 
a  station  some  three  miles  ride  of  Blackthorn.  En  route 
Edward  had  been  very  fortunate ;  he  sat  opposite  to  Olive, 
and  talked  to  her,  and  feasted  his  eyes  on  her  all  the  way ; 
for  that  had  come  to  pass  which  he  once  expressed  himself 
to  his  mother  as  fearing — he  was  smitten,  and  so  deeply 
withal  that  the  material  advantages  which  a  marriage  with 
Miss  Lincoln  would  bring  him  faded  into  insignificance  as 
compared  with  the  fair  girl  herself.  At  the  station  he  super- 
intended the  unboxing  of  Olive's  horse,  helped  her  to  mount, 
and  rode  with  her   to   cover,    Charlie   pairing  off  with  the 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


95 


second  Miss  Spankaway,   one  of  a  trio  of  red-haired,  hard- 
riding  sisters. 

At  the  cover  side  counsels  were  divided,  even  the  knowing 
ones  hesitating  wliither  to  betake  themselves.  Some  tried  to 
follow  the  hounds  into  the  thick  of  the  wood,  others  kept  in 
the  rides  or  stole  round  to  points  where  they  thought  the  fox 
might  break  ;  the  majority,  of  whom  were  our  friends,  took  post 
to  windward  of  the  wood. 

While  Edward,  who  had  a  weakness  for  big-wigs,  was  be- 
ing introduced  by  the  secretary  to  Sir  Somebody  Something, 
a  distinguished  stranger  from  a  distance,  and  Lydia  Spanka- 
way was  talking  to  Mrs.  Rivers,  Charlie  exchanged  signals 
with  Olive,  and  then  turned  his  horse  quietly  into  a  contiguous 
ride.     She  followed,  and  presently  came  up  with  him. 

"  Do  you  think  we  are  going  in  the  right  direction  ?  "  she 
asked.     "  Have  they  found  a  fox  .-'  " 

"  I  have  not  the  remotest  idea,  I  wanted  to  give  Ned  and 
Lydia  Spankaway  the  slip  and  have  a  talk  with  you,  dearest. 
Don't  you  think  I  care  m.ore  for  you  than  for  all  the  foxes  in 
the  country  ?  " 

"  I  hope  so.  All  the  same,  there  is  something  in  your 
tone — you  speak  as  if  you  were  not  quite  happy." 

"How  can  I  be  quite  happy?  Did  not  Ned  monopolize 
you  all  the  way,  and  the  last  time  we  were  out  you  flirted 
with  Teddy  Spankaway  all  the  time." 

"  How  horrid  you  are,  Charlie,"  returned  Olive  with  her 
prettiest  pout.  "  Didn't  you  promise  not  to  be  vexed  if  I 
pretended  not  to  care  for  3^ou,  and  let  other  men  pay  me 
little  attentions  ?  " 

"  I  call  them  big  attentions,  and  you  flirt  as  if  you  liked  it," 
muttered  the  young  fellow. 

"  Well,  I  do,  just  a  little.  It  is  great  fun.  Your  brother 
was  quite  wild  when  I  was  flirting  with  your  friend  Teddy  the 
other  day,  and  I  dearly  like  to  tease  Edward.  He  thinks  so 
much  of  himself.  All  the  same,  I  almost  think  I  did  him 
an  injustice  in  saying  that  my  fortune  was  the  exclusive  ob- 
ject of  his  affections.  I  begin  to  think  he  is  half  in  love  with 
me." 

"  Of  course  he  is  ;  everybody  is." 

"  Not  quite  so  bad  as  that,  I  hope,  Charlie  dear.  You 
must  not  imagine  that  everybody  is  as  infatuated  as  yourself. 
And  don't  be  jealous  and  absurd.     Rather  give  me  credit  for 


96  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

tact  and  fine  managem-ent.  Nobody  either  suspects  us  or 
talks  about  us  ;  and  you  know  that  I  love  you.  What  would 
you  have  more  ?  " 

Charlie  saw  that  it  was  time  to  climb  down, 

"  You  are  quite  right.  You  are  always  right,"  he  said, 
penitently.  "  I  am  an  ass,  a  dolt,  and  you  are  wise  and 
clever.  But  I  love  you  so  dearly  that  I  begrudge  every  smile 
that  you  give  to  another.     It  is  one  the  less  for  me." 

"  You  avaricious  wretch  !  Cannot  you  console  yourself 
with  Lydia  Spankaway  ?     She   is  always  smiling  on  you." 

"  Hang  Lydia  Spankaway  !  She  is  always  smiling  on  every- 
body.    Her  life  is  a  perpetual  giggle." 

The  words  were  hardly  spoken  when  the  young  woman  in 
question  and  her  brother  came  tumbling  out  of  the  wood  a 
few  yards  ahead  of  them. 

"  Where  are  the  hounds  ?  "  asked  the  brother. 

"  That  is  just  the  question  I  was  going  to  ask  you,  Teddy," 
said  Charlie. 

"  We  tried  to  follow  them  into  the  hollow  and  got  bogged." 

"  Of  course." 

"  By  Jove,  I  believe  I  heard  a  hallo.  Come  along,  Lydia. 
Won't  you  come,  Prince  ?  " 

"  No.  We  are  just  as  well  here,  and  if  you  ride  to  every 
semblance  of  a  shout  you  hear,  your  horse  will  be  used  up 
before  the  fun  begins." 

"  It's  a  view  hallo.  I'll  swear  it's  a  view  hallo,"  exclaimed 
the  youth  excitedly.  "  Come  along,  Lydia.  If  they  have 
gone  away  I'll  give  a  screech,  and  if  they  come  this  way,  you 
do  as  much  for  us,  there's  a  good  fellow." 

And  with  that  Mr.  Spankaway  and  his  sister  went  off  at 
full  gallop. 

"  Do  you  think  they  are  gone  away  ?  "  inquired  Olive, 
anxiously. 

"  As  likely  as  not." 

"  Then  why  ? " 

"  Why  don't  we  ride  after  the  Spankaways  ?  Because  I 
would   rather  ride  home  with  you,  darling  !  " 

"  Ride  home  with  me  .''  What  ?  Listen  !  I  am  sure  that 
is  Teddy  screeching." 

"  Let  him  screech.  I'd  rather  ride  quietly  home  with  you 
than  have  a  galloping  run  of  forty  minutes  without  a  check. 
It  is  almost  our  last  chance.     The  season  is  as  good  as  over, 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  97 

and  I  doubt  whether  we  shall  be  able  to  contrive  a  tete-a- 
tete  oi  more  than  a  few  minutes  all  summer.  Now  the  days  are 
so  long  the  King's  Path  is  not  safe — too  many  people  about." 

"  But  isn't  it  a  very  long  way,  and  won't  it  seem  strange  ?  " 

"  Only  fifteen  miles,  and  our  horses  are  fresh,  and  we  can 
gruel  them  and  get  a  cup  of  tea  at  the  Beehive.  And  there 
is  nothing  strange  in  losing  hounds  in  Blackthorn  high  woods. 
Half  the  field  will  be  in  the  same  fix  ;  and  having  lost  them, 
it  will  be  better  for  us  to  go  straight  home  than  potter  about 
here  for  the  remainder  of  the  day,  or  wait  in  the  village  for 
the  4.30  train." 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  it  will  be  quite  wise,"  said  Olive 
passively.     "  All  the  same  ;  if  it  will  give  you  pleasure " 

"  Give  me  pleasure  ?  Oh,  Olive,  if  you  only  knew.  This 
way,"  and  with  that  he  turned  his  horse  in  the  direction  of 
Teddy  Spankaway's  last  screech. 

"  You  are  going  to  look  for  the  hounds,  then  ?  " 

"  We  must  find  out  what  has  become  of  them.  They  may 
be  in  the  wood  yet.  It  would  never  do  to  leave  without  having 
a  proper  tale  to  tell  when  we  get  home." 

Olive  smiled.  It  pleased  her  to  think  that,  impetuous 
though  he  was,  her  lover  had  not  altogether  lost  sight  of 
prudence. 

As  they  went  on  they  were  joined  by  many  others,  and 
presently  the  master  himself  came  up  in  a  great  heat  and 
asked  the  question  everybody  else  was  asking,  "  Where  are 
the  hounds  ?  "  and  like  everybody  else  got  no  answer. 

"  I  do  believe  they  have  slipped  away,"  he  said. 

And  so  it  proved.  On  reaching  the  confines  of  the  wood 
they  found  there  several  yokels  and  second  horsemen,  from 
whom  they  learnt  that  the  hounds  had  gone  away  ten  minutes 
previously.  Quickly  and  some  two  score  gentlemen  with 
them,  very  fast,  and  as  it  seemed,  running  towards  Sand- 
ford. 

"  What  a  sell  !  "  chorused  twenty  voices. 

"  I  shall  go  on  and  try  to  nick  in ;  they  may  check  or  run 
a  ring,"  said  the  master,  and  off  he  went,  followed  by  a  dozen 
of  the  belated  ones,  whose  number  was  continually  increasing. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  use,"  said  another,  "  Ten  minutes'  start 
and  a  fast  thing.  They  will  only  hammer  their  horses'  legs 
to  pieces  on  the  hard  high-road.  I  shall  chuck  it  ijp  and  go 
home." 


98  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  suppose  we  had  better  do  the  same,"  observed  Charlie 
to  Olive,  as  if  the  idea  were  occurring  to  him  for  the  first 
time.  "  If  we  try  to  overtake  them  we  shall  only  use  up  our 
horses  to  no  purpose." 

"  You  think  it  would  be  a  vain  pursuit,  then  }  " 

"  Decidedly." 

"  Very  well.     Let  us  go  home,  then.     Which  is  the  way  ?  " 

Several  of  the  others  set  off  with  them  ;  but  they  soon 
parted  company,  and  Charlie  had  Olive  all  to  himself  for  the 
rest  of  the  ride,  and  a  delightful,  long  drawn  out  ride  it 
was — through  green  lanes  and  pleasant  bridle-paths,  past 
ancient  halls  nestling  among  trees,  farmhouses  with  red  roofs 
and  high  gables,  and  barns  such  as  are  not  built  nowadays 
— big  enough  for  cathedrals — and  quaintly  picturesque 
churches,  whose  ivy-mantled  towers  looked  down  on  the 
dust  of  twenty  generations. 

At  the  Beehive,  an  old  timbered  inn,  which  had  been  a 
house  of  entertainment  since  the  dissolution  of  the  monaster- 
ies, the  travellers  halted  to  bait  their  horses  and  refresh 
themselves.  Tea  was  served  in  a  snug  little  parlor  with 
black  oak  wainscoting  and  diamond  shaped  window  panes, 
looking  into  a  venerable  garden ;  and  as  there  was  nobody 
in  the  garden,  and  the  lovers  were  sole  occupants  of  the 
parlor,  they  were  quite  happy,  forgetting  for  a  while  every- 
thing but  themselves  and  their  love,  and  lingering  perhaps 
longer  than  was  altogether  wise.  Nevertheless,  they  reached 
home  an  hour  sooner  than  they  would  have  done  had  they 
returned  by  rail. 

"  What  will  Edward  say?  "  asked  Olive,  as  they  reined  up 
at  All  Hallows  lodge  gates. 

"  I  do  not  see  that  he  has  a  right  to  say  anything.  I  am 
your  duly  appointed  pilot ;  and  I  have  taken  you  home 
many  a  time  before." 

"  The  circumstances  were  very  different,  though.  We 
have  been  alone  nearly  all  day,  and  he  will  be  vexed  at  being 
left  to  train  home  by  himself — perhaps  say  something  to 
mother  which  may  reawaken  her  suspicions.  Anyhow,  for 
the  next  few  weeks  we  shall  need  to  be  extremely  circum- 
spect, and  I  will  be  very  gracious  to  Edward.  No,  don't 
come  up  to  the  house  with  me.  If  mother  thinks  you  are 
neglecting  me,  so  much  the  better.  Good-night,  Charlie, 
dear." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


99 


"  Good-night,  darling.  This  has  been  the  happiest  day  I 
ever  had  in  my  life." 

"  I  hope  we  may  not  have  to  pay  a  heavy  price  for  it," 
thought  Olive  as  she  trotted  up  the  avenue,  "  but  something 
tells  me  that  Edward  will  be  very  angry — and  I  distrust  him 
more  than  I  like  to  let  Charlie  know.  Dear  old  Charlie  ! 
How  strange  it  is  that  two  brothers  should  be  so  different." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

JEALOUS. 

Edward  did  not  miss  the  lovers  until  some  time  after 
they  had  stolen  away.  Then,  after  making  several  fruitless 
inquiries,  he  went  to  look  for  them.  He  might  as  well  have 
looked  for  a  needle  in  a  haystack  ;  but  while  he  was  seek- 
ing the  lovers  he  found  the  hounds,  and  the  hounds  found  a 
fox.  Feeling  sure  that  he  was  now  on  the  right  track,  he 
rode  to  the  first  whip's  in  view  hallo,  and  was  one  of  the 
first  out  of  the  wood  ;  and  having  no  doubt  that  he  should 
presently  encounter  Charlie  and  Olive  (who  were  generally 
in  the  first  flight)  went  boldly  on.  But  the  field  being  rather 
scattered  and  the  country  rather  heavily  timbered,  he  looked 
for  the  fugitives  in  vain,  and  had  to  console  himself  with 
the  reflection  that  he  should  find  them  with  the  hounds 
checked — or,  at  any  rate,  at  the  end  of  the  run,  which  he 
devoutly  hoped  would  not  be  long.  It  lasted  a  good  hour ; 
the  latter  part  of  it,  however,  being  rather  slow,  and  ended 
in  the  middle  of  a  covert,  where  Reynard  ran  into  a  drain 
and  could  not  be  persuaded  to  come  out  and  be  killed. 

Edward,  who  thanks  to  easy  fences  and  a  line  of  gates, 
was  well  up,  looked  round,  and  when  he  saw  nothing  of  those 
whom  he  sought  his  first  feeling  was  a  sense  of  elation.  He 
had  beaten  his  brother  for  once.  But  when  the  last  of  the 
laggards  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  the  said  brother  and 
the  young  lady  were  still  invisible,  he  began  to  feel  uneasy. 

"  Have  you  seen  anything  of  my  brother  and  Miss  Lin- 
coln .?  "  he  asked  of  Teddy  Spankaway,  who  was  standing  at 
his  horse's  head,  devouring  a  ham  sandwich  and  drinking 
whiskey  and  water  from  an  electro-plated  flask. 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  them  was  in  Blackthorn  Wood  and 
very  thick  they  seemed." 

"  Thick !     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  They  were  in  close  converse,  and  very  near  together — 
heads  almost  touching,  in  fact — and  though  I  told  them  I 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  loi 

had  heard  a  hallo,  and  when  I  knew  the  hounds  were  run- 
ning gave  a  screech  which  I  am  sure  they  must  have  heard, 
they  did  not  come  on.  Anyhow  they  are  out  of  it,  and  I 
expect  that  is  where  they  want  to  be.  That  brother  of  yours 
is  a  sly  dog.  Prince,  and  Miss  Lincoln  is  a  deuced  nice  girl." 

And  then  Mr.  Spankaway,  who  was  himself  rather  sweet 
on  Olive,  and  jealous  of  Charlie,  laughed  maliciously  and 
offered  Edward  his  flask.  Edward  tried  to  look  unconcerned, 
muttered  something  about  the  possibility  of  anybody  losing 
hounds  in  Blackthorn  Wood,  and  asked  whether  they  were 
going  to  draw  again. 

"  Of  course  we  are,  as  soon  as  the  master  turns  up.  He 
has  been  thrown  out — not  often  that  happens,  though — and 
I  expect  Quickly  will  take  the  hounds  back  on  the  off  chance 
of  falling  in  with  him.  Do  you  know  your  horse  has  lost  a 
shoe  ? " 

"  Confound  it !     So  he  has.     Where  is  there  a  forge  ? " 

"  Down  the  road  to  the  right  ;  near  the  windmill." 

The  loss  of  the  shoe  delayed  Edward  half-an-hour,  and 
when  he  set  his  face  towards  Blackthorn,  hounds  and  hunters 
were  nowhere  to  be  seen  ;  but  presently  he  met  a  groom 
with  a  lame  horse,  who  was  able  to  tell  him  that  Mr.  Brown 
had  fallen  in  with  the  hounds,  and  that  his  brother  and  Miss 
Lincoln  were  gone  home. 

"  But  there  is  no  train  till  4.30." 

"  I  think  they  are  hacking  all  the  way,  sir." 

"  The  deuce  they  are  !  "  and  Edward  Prince  went  on,  look- 
ing as  black  as  thunder  and  in  a  very  evil  frame  of  mind. 

Teddy  Spankaway's  words  had  reawakened  the  suspicion  he 
had  once  entertained,  that  Olive  and  Charlie  had  a  sneaking 
kindness  for,  and,  perhaps,  a  secret  understanding  with  each 
other. 

"  It  looks  like  a  planned  thing,"  he  thought.  "  It  looks  as 
if  they  had  stopped  in  the  covert  on  purpose.  Anybody 
may  lose  hounds  in  that  horrid  M^ood ;  but  why  did  not 
they  come  on  with  Brown,  and  why,  oh  wh)?^,  have  they 
gone  home  by  road  without  waiting  for  me,  or  making  an 
effort  to  find  me  ?  It  is  not  fair,  it  is  not  right,  it  is  scarcely 
courteous." 

Edward  was  furiously  jealous  ;  the  idea  of  being  supplanted 
by  his  brother,  whom  in  his  heart  he  rather  despised, 
was  gall  and  wormwood  to  him,  and  he  had  made  so  sure 


102  THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

that  Olive  liked  him  and  cared  no  more  for  Charlie  than 
Charlie  cared  for  her  that  the  disappointment  was  doubly 
bitter.  He  had  been  deceived,  played  with,  made  a  "spoon 
handle  of,"  and  he  said  in  his  anger  that  he  would  let  "  those 
two  "  see  that  he  could  not  be  befooled  with  impunity. 

But  when  he  cooled  down  somewhat  and  considered  the 
matter  further,  he  perceived  that  he  had  really  very  little 
ground  for  complaint ;  the  existence  of  a  secret  understanding 
between  Olive  and  Charlie  had  still  to  be  proved.  Spankaway, 
a  mere  sporting  man,  who  regarded  coarse  jokes  as  high  wit, 
was  quite  capable  of  straining  a  point  to  provoke  a  laugh. 
He  had  no  doubt  grossly  exaggerated,  if  not  actually  invented  ; 
and,  after  all,  there  was  nothing  very  alarming  in  Charlie 
and  Olive  being  left  behind  for  once  in  a  way,  and  hacking 
home  instead  of  v/aiting  for  a  train.  In  like  circumstances 
he  would  probably  have  done  the  same. 

Notwithstanding  this  commendable  effort  to  weigh  both 
sides  of  the  question  Edward  was  suspicious  still.  Though 
the  circumstances  were  consistent  with  either  theory,  the 
thoughts  and  memories  which  came  unbidden  to  his  mind 
fed  the  flame  of  his  jealousy,  and  he  felt  intensely  anxious  to 
know  the  truth.  But  how  was  he  to  know  it  ?  He  could  not 
openly  ask  Charlie  without  risking  a  rebuff  and  showing  his 
own  hand.  He  was  neither  his  brother's  keeper  nor  Olive's 
guardian.  Charlie  had  just  as  much  right  to  fall  in  love  with 
her  as  he  had,  and  would  certainly  refuse  to  disclose  anything 
which  might  compromise  her,  or  which  he  desired  in  his  own 
interest  or  hers  to  keep  secret. 

After  long  cogitation  Edward  made  up  his  mind  to  dissemble 
his  jealousy  and  keep  his  suspicions  to  himself.  Until  he 
had  evidence  that  Olive  and  Charlie  were  carrying  on  a  clan- 
destine courtship  he  would  not  say  a  word  to  anybody — even 
to  his  mother.  But  he  would  seek  for  evidence,  leave  no 
stone  unturned  to  obtain  it,  and  when  he  had  obtained  it, 
act.  How,  he  could  not,  as  yet,  decide  ;  that  would  depend 
on  circumstances ;  only  he  was  fully  resolved  that  Olive 
should  be  his  and  not  Charlie's.  The  mere  thought  that  he 
might  lose  her  angered  him  almost  past  bearing.  He  had 
known  for  sometime  that  he  loved  Olive,  but  never  until 
then  had  he  realized  the  intensity  of  his  passion,  and  how 
necessary  to  his  happiness  she  was  become. 

CharUe,  indeed  !     Charlie's  partiality  for  Olive — if  it  ex- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  103 

isted — was  mere  calf  love,  the  fugitive  fancy  of  an  overgrown 
boy,  who  took  no  thought  for  the  morrow  ;  his,  the  strong 
love  of  a  mature  man,  who  had  formed  definite  views  of  life 
and  meant  to  get  on.  If  the  matter  were  fairly  put  to  Olive 
there  could,  he  felt  sure,  be  no  question  as  to  her  choice. 
Meanwhile,  the  fair  putting  being  neither  feasible  nor  expe- 
dient, there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  wait,  and,  as  Edward 
said  to  himself,  everything  comes  to  the  man  who  knows 
how  to  wait — and  watch. 

His  first  question  to  the  groom  who  met  him  at  Peele 
station  was  whether  his  brother  had  returned. 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  he  hacked." 

"  He  got  home  early,  then  ?  " 

"  Not  very.  About  half-past  five,  I  think.  It  is  a  longish 
way  from  Blackthorn." 

"  Fifteen  miles  ;  they  took  five  hours  to  ride  fifteen  miles, 
and  their  horses  quite  fresh,"  thought  Edward.  "  What 
could  they  be  doing  all  the  time  ?  "  And  the  demon  of 
jealousy  gnawed  harder  at  his  heart  than  ever.  But  when 
he  got  home  and  met  Charlie  in  the  hall  he  smiled  pleasantly. 

"  A  nice  fellow  you  are,  to  run  away  and  leave  me  to  come 
home  alone,"  quoth  he. 

"  Nay,  it  was  you  who  ran  away  and  left  us.  \Mien  we 
got  out  of  the  covert  you  were  non  est,  and  you  had  been  gone 
so  long  that  there  was  no  chance  of  overtaking  you.  So  we 
just  hacked  home,  Olive  and  I." 

"  You  did  not  stop  anywhere,  then  ?  " 

"  Only  at  the  Beehive  to  gruel.     Had  you  a  good  run  >  " 

"  A  regular  clinker,  A  good  sixty  minutes,  first  twenty  as 
fast  as  we  could  leg  it,  and  lost  the  fox  in  a  drain  at  Slasher's 
Mill." 

"  And  we  were  out  of  it !  But  make  haste  and  get  changed. 
The  pater  v/ants  you  in  his  room." 

"  What's  in  the  wind  now  ?  " 

"  A  family  council.  You  are  required  to  make  it  complete, 
so  hurry  up." 

Edward,  though  particular  about  his  person,  and  generally 
slow  over  his  toilet,  did  hurry  up,  and,  on  entering  his  father's 
room  some  fifteen  minutes  later,  found  the  other  members  of 
the   family  in  deep  consultation.     The  matter  was  this  : — 

The  firm  of  Lincoln,  Lyman,  and  Jump  (whose  affairs  were 
in  Chancery)    had  made   heavy   advances  to   one  of   their 


I04  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

correspondents  in  Trinidad,  on  the  security  of  various 
properties  there.  The  correspondent  in  question  having 
failed,  and  the  amount  involved  being  large,  and  the  business 
complicated,  it  was  considered  necessary  to  send  somebody 
out  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  house  and  realize  the 
hypothecated  properties ;  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  Vice- 
Chancellor  no  gentleman  could  so  well  perform  this  duty  as 
Mr.  Leonard  Prince  ;  he  was  a  lawyer,  a  man  of  business, 
and  had  all  the  facts  at  his  fingers'  ends.  Would  he  accept 
the  commission,  and  on  what  terms  "i 

"  The  letter  came  after  you  were  gone,  this  morning," 
said  Mr.  Prince  to  Edward,  "  and,  as  you  see,  it  requires 
a  prompt  answer.  Mother  and  Charlie  are  rather  for  it. 
They  are  pleased  to  think  the  trip  would  do  me  good.  What 
is  your  opinion  .-*  " 

Edward  was  also  rather  for  it.  Like  the  others,  he  thought 
the  trip  would  do  his  father  good ;  moreover,  during  his 
absence  he  would  naturally  take  his  father's  place  in  the 
office,  and  represent  him  in  the  town,  and  the  idea  pleased 
Edward.  But  he  was  not  the  man  to  answer  an  important 
question  by  simply  saying  ditto  to  somebody  else. 

"  What  is  your  opinion  "i  "  repeated  Mr.  Prince. 

"  What  is  my  opinion  ?  "  said  Edward,  knitting  h'is  brows 
and  looking  wondrous  wise.  "  This  is  a  very  serious  matter, 
and  requires  a  good  deal  of  consideration.  Mother  and 
Charlie  think  the  trip  would  do  j^ou  good.  I  hope  they 
are  right ;  but  what  is  their  authority  ?  These  West  India 
Islands  are  not  generally  supposed  to  be  the  most  healthy 
places  in  the  world." 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  several  times  to  Trinidad,  and  I 
have  heard  him  say  that  the  island  was  healtliy  and  the 
voyage  there  pleasant." 

"  Then  we  may  regard  that  point  as  settled.  The  next  is, 
can  you  be  spared  ?  " 

"  That  is  rather  for  you  to  say.  Charlie  has  been  doing 
very  well  lately,  and  I  don't  see  why  you,  and  he,  and  Lilly- 
white  should  not  be  able  to  do  without  me  for  three  or  four 
months  ;  and  the  pay  I  get  for  going  out  would  be  all  to  the 
good." 

"  Less  the  extra  premium  on  your  life  policy." 

Mr.  Prince's  countenance  fell.  Something  was  always 
happening  to  remind  him  of  that  terrible  skeleton.     Only  the 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  105 

week  before  Peploe  and  Pope  had  written  to  say  that  they 
doubted  whether  they  should  be  able  to  pay  any  more 
interest. 

"  I  had  not  thought  of  that,"  he  said  gravely.  "  It  is  not 
indisputable,  yet." 

"  It  does  not  become  indisputable  for  two  years.  In  the 
meantime  you  are  limited  to  Europe  and  North  America. 
But  the  company  would  give  you  a  license." 

"  Of  course  they  would.  But  upon  what  terms  .''  You  had 
better  go  to  town  to-morrow  and  ascertain.  If  they  make 
any  charge  at  all  it  should  be  something  quite  nominal ;  as 
my  policy  permits  me  to  cross  the  Atlantic  the  mere  voyage 
involves  no  extra  risk,  and  the  trip  out  and  home,  and  the 
change  and  that,  can  hardly  fail  to  benefit  my  health." 

"  That  is  a  good  point.  I  will  urge  it,"  said  Ned,  making 
a  memorandum  in  his  note-book.  "  If  this  can  be  arranged 
you  will  go,  of  course." 

"  I  think  so.  It  will  be  an  agreeable  trip,  and  a  new  ex- 
perience ;  and  they  cannot  give  me  less  than  five  hundred 
and  my  expenses." 

"  Five  hundred  is  not  enough,  father.  Shall  I  arrange 
that  for  you  also  while  I  am  in  town  ? " 

"  By  all  means,  Ned.  You  are  a  better  hand  at  a  bargain 
than  I  am,  and  will  probably  get  more  than  I  should  dare  to 
ask.  And  now,  having  finished  our  business,  let  us  go  in  to 
dinner." 

The  next  morning  Edward  went  to  London,  and  justified 
his  father's  opinion  of  his  business  capacity  by  making  two 
satisfactory  bargains.  By  persuading  the  assurance  company 
that  the  contemplated  voyage  could  not  fail  to  benefit  his 
father's  health  he  obtained  the  license  on  very  favorable 
terms,  and  by  taking  the  opposite  tack  with  the  Chancery 
people — dwelling  on  the  perils  of  ocean  travelling  and  the 
manifold  dangers  of  a  tropical  climate  (especially  for  a  man 
at  his  father's  time  of  life) — he  obtained  a  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  more  than  the  sum  which  Mr.  Prince  had  named,  and 
with  which  he  would  have  been  content. 

Edward  called  this  diplomacy,  his  father  would  have  called 
it  sharp  practice — if  he  had  known  the  facts — but  Mr. 
Prince  was  too  well  satisfied  with  the  result  to  be  inquisitive 
about  details,  and  the  money  would  be  very  useful. 

The  license  granted  by  the  Insurance    Company  (in  con- 


lo6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

sideration  of  a  payment  of  twenty  pounds)  was  for  a  voyage 
to  Trinidad  and  back  per  Royal  Mail  steamer,  and  the  perils 
incident  thereto,  and  a  residence  in  the  island  not  exceeding 
three  months — unless  Mr.  Prince  should  be  detained  there 
longer  than  that  period  by  circumstances  beyond  his 
control. 

For  a  hundred  and  thirty  pounds  more  the  Company  would 
have  anticipated  the  time  by  which  the  policy  was  to  become 
indisputable  and  made  it  "good  for  all  the  world."  But  as 
this  seemed  to  Edward  like  paying  so  much  money  for  noth- 
ing, he  elected  for  the  conditional  license,  and  plumed  him- 
self on  having  scored  a  great  success.  But  it  is  possible  to 
be  too  clever,  and  in  the  issue  Edward  discovered  that  the 
proverb  about  a  penny  saved  being  a  penny  gained  is  not  of 
universal  application. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  107 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

lillywhite's  demand. 

Mr.  Prince's  main  (though  unconfessed)  reason  for  de- 
siring to  go  to  the  West  Indies  was  that  he  might  get  away 
from  the  skeleton  for  a  time.  With  tliree  or  four  thousand 
miles  of  ocean  rolling  between  them,  it  would  (metaphorically) 
be  out  of  sight,  and,  as  he  hoped,  out  of  mind.  The  fresh 
scenes  he  should  behold  and  the  new  and  varied  impressions 
he  should  receive  must  needs  divert  the  current  of  his  thoughts, 
and  he  would  enjoy  a  short  interlude  of  peace,  which  he  sorely 
needed,  for  latterly  the  skeleton  had  been  unpleasantly  ob- 
trusive. 

After  paying  the  agreed  interest  in  full,  though  intermit- 
tently, for  three  years  Peploe  and  Pope  had  suddenly  ceased 
their  remittances  and  intimated  pretty  plainly  that  it  was  un- 
likely they  would  ever  be  resumed.  This  meant  a  loss  of 
six  hundred  a  year  ;  and  the  premium  on  the  triple  life  policy 
brought  up  to  a  thousand  pounds,  per  annum  the  cost  of 
keeping  the  skeleton  under  lock  and  key.  But  for  the  profits 
arising  out  of  the  Lincoln  lawsuit  the  burden  would  have 
been  almost  more  than  Mr.  Prince  could  bear  without  mak- 
ing such  retrenchments  as  would  seriously  affect  his  position 
in  the  town.  For  Mrs.  Lincoln's  sake  he  wanted  the  suit  to 
end  ;  for  his  own,  it  was  better  for  it  to  go  on — a  conflict  of 
interest  that  sometimes  rendered  it  difficult  for  him  to  advise 
his  client  with  that  singleness  of  purpose  which  for  three 
generations  had  been  the  rule  of  the  office. 

Edward,  on  the  other  hand,  was  rather  disposed,  for  finan- 
cial reasons,  to  protract  the  suit,  and  father  and  son  had 
occasionally  "  words  "  on  the  subject.  The  young  man  had, 
moreover,  an  unpleasant  way  of  referring  to  the  skeleton  as 
that  "  terrible  business,"  and  hinting  that  in  using  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln's trust  fund  to  square  Peploe  and  Pope,  his  father  had 
committed  a  fatal  mistake.  This  Mr.  Prince  knew  only  too 
well  :  but  he  did  not  like  being  told  so.     It  was  as  bad  as 


io8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

rubbing  bay  salt  into  an  open  wound.  Nor  did  he  in  his 
heart  approve  in  his  wife's  project  for  making  a  match  be- 
tween Edward  and  Olive.  There  was  something  underhand 
about  it ;  he  had  a  great  regard  for  Olive,  and  felt  sure  that 
Edward  and  she  would  not  pull  well  together.  But  Dorothy- 
had  set  her  mind  on  it,  and  if  he  could  not  successfully  op- 
pose her  alone  much  less  could  he  do  so  when  she  was  sup- 
ported by  Edward,  who  was  a  host  in  himself,  and  to  whom 
the  knowledge  of  the  secret  gave  additional  power. 

Oppressed  by  all  these  cares,  and  feeling  as  he  had  never 
felt  before  the  weight  of  years,  there  were  times  when  Mr. 
Prince  wished  himself  dead.  His  death  would  settle  every- 
thing, the  assurance  money  make  good  his  breach  of  trust, 
and  though  he  could  not  leave  his  sons  a  fortune  he  should 
leave  them  an  excellent  business,  and  a  name  free  from  re- 
proach. These  fits  of  depression  were,  however,  infrequent, 
and  he  was  forgetting  his  worries  in  the  work  of  preparing 
for  the  approaching  voyage,  and  beginning  to  contemplate 
the  future  more  hopefully,  when  an  incident  occurred  that 
revived  his  fears,  and  gave  him  the  most  severe  shock  he  had 
sustained  since  the  discovery  of  Jack's  defalcations. 

Two  or  three  days  before  his  departure  he  was  in  his  room, 
looking  over  papers,  and  making  notes  for  Edward's  guidance 
during  his  absence,  when  the  door  opened  and  in  walked 
Lillywhite.  In  this  there  was  nothing  unusual,  but  the  de- 
liberation of  the  managing  clerk's  movements,  and  the  solem- 
nity of  his  visage,  bespoke  the  importance  of  his  errand. 

"  What  is  it,  now,  Lillywhite .''  "  said  Mr.  Prince,  looking 
up.  "  Has  our  best  client  run  away  without  paying  his  bill 
of  costs,  or  does  Mr.  Trumpler  want  a  new  will  making  ?  " 

Instead  of  greeting  his  employer's  joke  with  a  smile,  Lilly- 
white  looked  more  solemn  than  ever, 

"  It  is  not  office  business  this  time,  Mr.  Prince.  It's  touch- 
ing a  matter  personal  to  our  two  selves  that  I  want  a  word 
with  you." 

"  Can  he  want  his  salary  raised  ?  "  thought  Mr.  Prince. 
"  All  right,  Lillywhite.  If  there  is  anything  I  can  do  for  you, 
I  am  sure  I  shall  be  very  happy " 

"  You  set  sail  on  Friday  ?  " 

"  God  bless  me  !  Is  that  what  j^ou  had  to  say  ?  "  quoth 
Mr.  Prince  with  a  laugh.     "  Yes,  I  set  sail  on  Friday." 

"  I  hope  you  will  come  back,  sir." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  109 

"  'Pon  mv  word,  Lillywhite  !  Of  course  I  shall  come  back. 
Why  not?" 

"  Well,  there's  a  sight  of  water  between  this  and  the  West 
Indies  ;  and  where  there  is  water  there  is  danger.  I  never 
liked  it — -neither  inside  or  out.  I  don't  want  to  discourage 
you,  sir,  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  is  a  very  hazardous 
undertaking  for  a  gentleman  at  your  time  of  life.  And  as 
you  may  never  come  back,  though  I  sincerely  hope  you  will, 
I  should  like  to  have  a  proper  understanding." 

"  As  to  what  ?  For  heaven's  sake  come  to  the  point,  Lilly- 
white.     For  you  know  how  busy  I  am." 

"  My  position  in  the  office." 

"  Your  position  will  be  what  it  has  been — that  of  managing 
clerk." 

"  Under  Mr.  Edward  ?  " 

"  Of  course.  You  surely  don't  suppose  that  he  will  be 
under  you  ? " 

"  He  might  do  worse.  He  has  not  all  the  sense  in  the 
world,  though  he  evidently  thinks  so  ;  and  his  manner  to  me 
is  often  very  discourteous,  almost  offensive,  indeed  ;  and  if 
I  am  to  be  under  him  during  your  absence,  he  must  promise 
to  treat  me  with  becoming  respect,  also  I  should  like  a  slight 
increase  of  salary." 

"  Anything  else  .''  "  asked  Mr.  Prince,  sarcastically.  "  You 
had  better  open  your  mouth  wide  enough  while  you  are  about 
it." 

"  Not  at  present.  I  think  that  will  do  till  you  come 
back." 

"  Not  at  present !  Gad,  you  speak  as  if  you  were  surprised 
at  your  own  moderation.  You  have  been  with  me  a  long 
time — more  than  twenty  years." 

"  Twenty-two  on  the  tenth  of  next  month." 

"  Twenty-two,  then ;  and  served  me  well  and  faithfully, 
and  I  have  treated  you  handsomely,  giving  you  my  entire 
confidence,  and  letting  you  have  pretty  nearly  your  own  way 
in  everything.  In  point  of  fact,  I  have  spoiled  you.  It  is 
as  Edward  said  the  other  day.  You  cannot  stand  corn.  You 
are  getting  above  yourself." 

"  Edward  said  that,  did  he  ?  I  am  obliged  to  him,"  inter- 
posed the  managing  clerk,  with  an  angry  shake  of  his  portent- 
ous nose,  which,  after  blushing  violently,  had  become  almost 
blue. 


no  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  You  are  getting  above  yourself,"  repeated  Mr,  Prince, 
heedless  of  the  interruption,  "  and  as  your  demands  are 
unreasonable  and  cannot  be  complied  with,  I  fear  we  shall 
have  to  part — unless  3'ou  choose  to  withdraw  them.  Think 
about  it,  Lillywhite.  I  should  be  sorry  for  you  to  decide 
hastily." 

"  I  have  thought  about  it  already,  and  my  mind  is  made 
up.  But  before  you  finally  make  up  yours,  sir,  there  is  one 
observation  I  should  like  to  make.  You  say  you  have  given 
me  your  entire  confidence.  So  you  have — with  one  exception 
• — and<a  very  important  exception." 

"  What  is  that,  Lillywhite  1  " 

"  The  matter  of  your  son  John  and  Peploe  and  Pope." 

Mr.  Prince  turned  as  pale  as  if  the  cupboard  had  opened 
of  itself  and  the  skeleton  had  walked  into  the  room, 

"  My  son  John — Peploe  and  Pope  !  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 
he  exclaimed,  trying  to  keep  his  countenance. 

"  I  guess  you  know,  sir,"  returned  Lillywhite  grimly.  "  I 
can  perhaps  put  two  and  two  together,  and  likewise  see  as 
far  into  a  stone  wall  as  anybody  else.  When  Peploe  came 
here  three  or  four  years  since  I  thought  something  was 
wrong — he  would  not  come  all  the  way  from  Liverpool  for 
nothing — and  when  I  heard  that  Mr.  John  had  got  into  debt 
and  run  away  I  felt  sure  something  was  wrong,  I  took 
Peploe's  measure.  He  would  not  have  cared  a  button  top 
how  much  Mr,  John  got  into  debt — so  long  as  it  was  not  to 
him.  So  I  put  two  and  two  together  and  from  certain  things 
that  happened  at  that  time  and  afterwards  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  you  had  sold  out  Mrs.  Lincoln's " 

"  Lillywhite,  I  did  not  expect  this  of  you,"  interrupted  Mr, 
Prince  in  a  voice  of  bitter  reproach,  "  You  have  been  play- 
ing as  spy,  prying  into  affairs  that  do  not  concern  you,  and  I 
very  much  fear  opening  my  private  letters." 

"  No,  sir  !  no,  sir  !  no,  sir  !  "  thundered  the  clerk,  empha- 
sizing each  denial  with  a  resounding  thump  of  his  fist  on  the 
table,  "  I  never  opened  a  private  letter  of  yours  in  my  life. 
I  would  scorn  to  stoop  to  any  such  rascality.  I  am  curious, 
I  know,  but  I  am  not  a  scoundrel.  But  those  w^ho  run  may 
read,  Mr.  Prince.  The  outward  appearance  of  a  letter,  like 
the  outward  appearance  of  a  man,  often  gives  a  clue  to  what 
is  inside.  The  way  of  it  was  this,  sir  ;  when  that  unfortu- 
nate affair  took  place,  and  I  saw  that  you  could  not  or  would 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  1 1 1 

not  trust  me,  I  felt  hurt,  and  I  resolved  to  fathom  the  mystery 
— by  strictly  honorable  means,  of  course.  Peploe  comes, 
unexpectedly,  stays  a  long  time,  and  leaves  you  much  dis- 
turbed. The  next  day  you  go  off  and  don't  return  for  three 
or  four  days.  You  decline  to  sell  out  Mrs.  Lincoln's  stock 
and  lend  the  money  on  mortgage  as  I  proposed.  Neverthe- 
less, there  comes  a  letter  from  the  Bank  of  England,  which 
unless  I  am  much  mistaken,  was  an  intimation  that  applica- 
tion had  been  made  for  power  of  attorney  to  sell  out  stock, 
and  I  knew,  of  course,  that  Mrs.  Lincoln's  was  the  only 
trust  money  we  had  in  Consols  ;  also,  before  that  her  divi- 
dends passedthrough  my  hands,  whereas,  afterwards,  you  took 
the  management  of  the  trust  entirely  into  your  own.  From 
these,  and  other  circumstances,  which  I  need  not  mention,  I 
drew  certain  conclusions." 

"  Ah  !  You  drew  certain  conclusions.  \Vhat  were  they  ? 
You  may  speak  fully ;  but  bear  in  mind,  please,  that  infer- 
ences are  not  evidence,  and  I  admit  nothing." 

"  I  did  not  suppose  you  would,  sir — at  first.  It  is  a  safe 
rule  not  to  admit  anything.  Well,  my  conclusions — or  if  you 
like  it  better,  my  suspicions — amounted  to  this  ;  that  your 
son  got  into  trouble  about  a  bit  of  paper,  or  something  of  the 
kind,  and  to  prevent  him  from  being  prosecuted  you  made 
up  the  deficiency  by — shall  we  say  borrowing  ? — the  whole  or 
the  greater  part  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  trust  fund.  When  Mr. 
John  appeared  here  a  little  while  ago,  disguised  as  a  tramp, 
these  suspicions  became  absolute  certainty.  People  don't 
run  away  and  return  in  disguise  for  nothing  more  serious  than 
contracting  debts  which  they  are  unable  to  pa3^" 

"  Jack  here  !  Jack  in  disguise  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Prince, 
after  a  long  stare  of  bewilderment  and  surprise.  "  Preposter- 
ous !  It  is  absurd,  impossible.  This  is  an  invention  of  your 
own,  Lillywhite,  a  wicked  invention." 

"  It  is  no  invention,  sir,  though  I  judge  by  your  manner 
that  you  were  not  aware  of  the  circumstance,"  returned  the 
clerk  quietly.     "  I  saw  Mr.  John  with  my  own  eyes." 

"  You  did,  really,  Lillywhite  ?  You  are  sure  you  are  not 
deceiving  me  ?  "  said  JNIr.  Prince,  in  a  husky  voice,  as  he 
wiped  away  the  sweat  which  stood  in  big  beads  on  his  fore- 
head. 

"  I  did,  sir,  and  I  am  not  the  only  one  that  saw  him.  One 
evening,  about    the    end  of    October   or   the  beginning    of 


112  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

November — I  have  the  exact  date  in  my  diary — I  met  a  tramp 
in  Church-lane,  in  whose  appearance,  though  his  clothes 
were  ragged,  and  he  had  a  patch  over  his  left  eye,  there  was 
something  strangely  familiar  to  me.  All  the  same,  I  could 
not  make  him  out,  but  I'm  naturally  of  a  curious  turn,  and  as 
I  never  like  to  have  an  unsatisfied  doubt  on  my  mind,  I 
just  followed  my  young  gentleman,  which  the  growing  dark- 
ness enabled  me  to  do  without  attracting  his  attention.  He 
took  the  road  to  Holmcroft,  and  when  I  saw  him  enter  your 
grounds  the  mystery  was  solved.  I  knew  that  the  tramp  was 
John  Prince." 

Mr.  Prince's  face  broke  into  a  smile  of  relief.  It  was  not 
as  bad  as  he  thought.  Lillywhite  was  either  trying  to  impose 
on  him  or  had  found  a  mare's  nest, 

"  What  nonsense  !  "  he  said.  "  How  could  you  know  any- 
thing of  the  sort  ?  Not  a  day  passes  that  half-a-dozen  unrec- 
ognizable tramps  don't  come  begging  to  Holmcroft." 

"  Wait  a  minute,  sir,  I  have  not  done  yet.  On  the  follow- 
ing night  I  happened  to  drop  into  the  '  Blue  Bear,'  and  there 
met  Turnbull,  the  leather-seller,  who  was  just  back  from 
London.  He  went  by  parliamentary  train  the  same  morning, 
and  saw  a  man  with  a  patch  over  his  left  eye,  who  got  in  at 
Peele  and  got  out  at  London,  for  all  the  world  like  John 
Prince." 

"  It  was  not  John  Prince.  It  could  not  be  John  Prince. 
Do  you  think  that  if  he  had  been  here  and  come  to  Holmcroft 
I  should  not  have  known  ?  You  are  mistaken  and  Turnbull 
is  a  fool.  And  now  let  us  come  to  the  point.  I  have  no 
time  for  more  talk.  You  think  you  have  found  something 
out  and  want  paying  for  j'our  silence.  Mind,  I  don't  admit 
you  have  found  anything  out  of  importance,  and  if  you  were 
to  say  outside  what  you  have  been  saying  to  me  now  I  should 
either  treat  it  with  silent  contempt  or  prosecute  you  for  slan- 
der. But  I  detest  scandal  and  I  don't  want  to  have  my 
family  affairs  discussed  in  every  tap-room  in  the  town. 

"  So  let  me  know,  please,  at  how  much  you  value  your 
silence,  which,  allow  me  to  remind  you,  it  is  your  duty  to  ob- 
serve in  any  circumstances.  To  divulge  anything  you  may 
have  learnt  here  would  be — a  gross  breach  of  trust,"  Mr. 
Prince  was  going  to  say,  but  remembering  that  he  had  him- 
self committed  a  still  grosser  offence  of  the  same  sort  and 
fearing  a  tu  quoque,  he  stopped  short. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  113 

"  Oh  sir,  you  do  me  a  great  injustice,"  protested  Lillywhite, 
in  a  tone  of  injured  innocence,  which  Mr.  Prince  thought 
was  put  on,  but  which  may  well  have  been  sincere.  "  You 
do  me  a  great  injustice.  All  that  comes  to  my  knowledge 
professionally  I  regard  as  sacred ;  but  what  I  discover  is 
surely  my  own  property,  in  the  sense  that  I  may  keep  it  secret 
or  not  at  my  pleasure.  And  I  ask  no  price  for  my  silence — 
merely  such  a  modest  increase  of  my  salary  as  my  long  and 
faithful  services  deserve — say  a  hundred  a  year — and  the  as- 
surance that  during  your  absence  Mr.  Edward  will  treat  me 
with  ordinary  courtesy  and  respect." 

"  I  engage  that  he  shall  do  so.  You  shall  also  have  the 
increase  you  ask  for,  but  you  will  please  to  remember  that  if 
you  do  not  observe  the  most  absolute  discretion  we  shall  have 
to  part.  When  Mr.  Edward  comes  in  be  good  enough  to  tell 
him  I  would  like  to  speak  to  him." 

The  clerk,  who  was  evidently  rather  taken  aback  by  the 
firmness  of  his  principal's  manner,  rose  from  his  chair, 
bowed  and  retired. 

"  D Ivlr.  Edward,"  he  muttered  when  he  was  outside. 

"  I'll  be  even  with  that  jackanapes  one  of  these  days.  The 
governor  put  a  better  face  on  it  towards  the  last  than  I  ex- 
pected. But  he  could  not  deny  it :  he  could  not  deny  it — • 
and  if  he  had  given  me  his  confidence  at  the  beginning  he 
would  have  saved  himself  a  hundred  a  year." 

"  My  God,  what  a  life,"  murmured  Mr.  Prince,  leaning  his 
head  on  his  hands.  "  Why  did  I  let  Dorothy  over  persuade 
me  ?  Why  didn't  I  have  the  courage  of  my  opinions  and  face 
the  thing  ?  It  would  have  been  forgotten  by  this  time.  ,  .  . 
How  I  have  been  deceived.  And  Lillywhite  !  He  professes 
to  be  hurt  because  I  did  not  give  him  my  confidence.  That 
would  not  have  mended  matters  at  all.  I  should  be  more 
in  his  power  than  I  am  now  ;  and  I  fancy  he  cares  quite  as 
much  for  power  as  money.  If  he  had  asked  for  two  hundred 
I  should  have  had  to  give  it  him." 

Presently  Edward  came  in.  His  father  told  him  what  had 
happened. 

"  Dear  me !  Dear  me  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  That  terrible 
business  again.     What  will  be  the  end  of  it  ?  " 

"  That  is  the  question  I  often  ask  myself.  I  often  think 
it  will  be  the  end  of  me,  and  that  would  perhaps  be  the  best 
of  all.     The  insurance  money  would  put  everything  straight. 


114  "^^^  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

One  man  can  steal  ahorse,  while  another  may  not  look  over  a 
gate.  It  seems  hard  that  I  should  be  harassed  in  this  way 
for  a  single  dereliction  of  duty — the  only  one,  as  I  can  truly 
say,  which  I  ever  committed." 

"  It  was  worse  than  a  dereliction  of  duty,  father.  It  was 
a  blunder.  And  I  am  rather  afraid,  it  was  another  blunder 
giving  in  to  Lillywhite.  He  knows  nothing  ;  it  is  all  surmise. 
In  your  place  I  should  have  set  him  at  defiance." 

"  No,  no,  Ned,  that  would  not  do  at  all.  If  I  did  that  I 
should  make  an  enemy  of  him  at  once.  He  would  talk. 
Think  what  a  fine  handle  such  a  rumor  would  be  for  the 
Radicals.  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  be  sure  to  hear  of  it,  and 
though  she  should  regard  it  as  a  base  calumny  she  might 
propose  to  lessen  my  responsibility  by  appointing  another 
trustee;  and  a  trustee  in  my  position  should  be  above  suspi- 
cion  Do  you  know,  I  think  Lillywhite  really  be- 
lieved that  the  tramp  he  saw  going  to  Holmcroft  was 
Jack  !  " 

"  Very  likely.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  confound  one 
person  with  another — especially  after  dark.  The  leather- 
seller's  story  also  belongs  to  the  category  of  illusions.  You 
may  depend  upon  it  that  Jack  is  thousands  of  miles  away 
from  Peele." 

"  I  hope  he  is.  All  the  same — poor  Jack !  "  and  the 
father's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

Edward  had  very  promptly  decided  to  treat  Lillywhite's 
statements  as  illusory,  partly  out  of  a  commendable  desire 
not  to  add  to  his  father's  anxieties  on  the  eve  of  his  depart- 
ure ;  mainly  because  his  father  would  be  sure  to  tell  his 
mother,  and  he  feared  her  reproaches  for  keeping  her  in 
ignorance  of  the  scapegrace's  return  and  sending  him  away 
without  giving  her  an  opportunity  of  seeing  him. 

When  Edward  left  his  father's  room  he  took  Lillywhite 
aside. 

"  My  father  has  told  me  what  passed  between  you  a  little 
while  ago,"  he  said.  "  You  want  to  be  treated  with  more 
courtesy  it  seems.  Well,  I  will  treat  you  with  more  courtesy. 
Not  because  I  am  afraid  of  you,  mind  ;  merely  because  of 
my  father's  promise.  But  if  I  had  been  in  his  place,  I 
should  have  promised  nothing.  I  should  have  told  you  to 
do  your  worst." 

"  Then  you  would  have  done  a  very  bad  thing,  sir.     Your 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"5 


father  is  a  wiser   man  than  you  are  ;  though  I  daresay  you 
don't  think  so." 

Edward  certainly  did  not  think  so.  He  looked  on  his 
father  as  old-fashioned,  and  lacking  in  judgment  and  resolu- 
tion, and  felt  quite  sure  that  he  could  have  managed  things 
a  great  deal  better. 


Ii6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

HER  AMERICAN  COUSIN. 

When  it  was  fully  decided  that  Mr.  Prince  should  go  to 
Trinidad  and  his  passage  was  taken,  and  the  day  of  his  de- 
parture drew  near,  Mrs.  Prince  began  to  waver  in  her  opinion 
as  to  the  expediency  of  the  undertaking ;  and  cruel  doubts 
assailed  her  mind.  The  voyage  might  do  him  good,  the  re- 
sulting gain  would  be  very  satisfactory — all  to  the  good,  as 
Mr.  Prince  had  several  times  observed — but  the  way  was 
long,  the  seas  were  treacherous,  and  shipwrecks,  alas  !  only 
too  common.  It  was  hardly  possible  to  open  a  newspaper 
without  reading  of  some  fresh  disaster.  What  if  disaster 
were  to  overtake  him  ?  What  if  the  ship  in  which  he  was 
to  sail  should  be  lost  ?  She  would  never  forgive  herself  for 
allowing  him  to  go.  The  mere  thought  thrilled  her  with  an- 
guish, and  if  she  had  not  confided  her  fears  to  Mrs.  Lincoln 
it  is  quite  likely  that  she  would  have  made  an  effort  to  prevent 
her  husband  from  implementing  the  agreement  which  she 
herself  had  sanctioned. 

Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  had  a  cheery  manner  and  a  sympathetic 
nature,  comforted  her  friend  with  kindly  words. 

"  Danger  !  "  she  said.  "  Do  you  know,  I  believe  there  is 
no  more  danger  at  sea  than  on  land.  I  have  crossed  the 
Atlantic  twenty  times,  and  I  don't  believe  I  was  ever  in  more 
danger  than  I  am  at  this  moment.  And  there  is  less  danger 
in  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  than  to  New  York.  In  going 
south  you  encounter  neither  icebergs  nor  fogs  (she  wisely 
said  nothing  of  earthquakes  and  cyclones).  Once  out  of 
European  waters  you  are  sailing  in  summer  seas.  You  leave 
winter  and  hard  weather  behind  you,  and  have  nothing  to  do 
but  read  novels  and  bask  in  the  sun.  The  voyage  will  do 
your  husband  all  the  good  in  the  world  :  he  will  have  a  real 
good  time,  and  come  back  looking  ten  years  younger.     He 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


117 


needs  a  change.  He  has  been  looking  very  fagged  lately, 
don't  you  think  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  he  is  looking  quite  so  well  as  he  used  to 
do." 

"  It  is  a  long  time  since  he  has  looked  as  well  as  he  did 
when  I  first  knew  him.  It  is  all  this  dreadful  lawsuit. 
Merely  to  think  of  it  makes  my  head  ache.  No  wonder, 
with  such  a  weight  on  his  mind,  he  looks  ill.  But  don't 
worry.  The  voyage  will  set  him  right.  And  don't  damp 
his  spirits  by  losing  your  own.  Let  him  go  away  cheerful, 
whatever  you  do." 

Mrs.  Prince,  who  had  an  uneasy  feeling  that  the  cause  of 
her  husband's  fagged  looks  lay  much  deeper  than  any  law- 
suit, took  this  advice  in  good  part.  She  also  allowed  Mrs. 
Lincoln  to  dissuade  her  from  accompanying  her  husband  to 
Southampton  as  she  had  intended.  It  would  only  make 
them  both  ''  feel  bad,"  said  her  friend,  and  serve  no  useful 
purpose.  So  Charlie  accompanied  him  instead,  and  after  an 
affectionate  though  not  painful  parting  with  his  wife,  Mr. 
Prince  "  went  away  cheerful  " — at  any  rate,  looking  cheer- 
ful. 

But  he  was  worn  out  with  anxiety  and  work,  and  the  train 
was  no  sooner  in  motion  than  he  leaned  back  in  his  corner 
and  slept ;  dreaming  of  Jack,  who  since  the  interview  with 
Lillywhite,  had  been  much  in  Mr.  Prince's  mind.  Despite 
the  incredulity  which  he  had  avowed,  and  at  the  same  time 
felt,  touching  the  clerk's  statement  he  could  not  rid  himself 
of  a  suspicion  that  it  might  be  true  after  all.  It  was  con- 
ceivable that  Jack  had  returned  to  Peele,  disguised  as  a  tramp, 
and  that,  his  courage  failing  him  at  the  last  moment,  he  went 
away  without  making  himself  known. 

When  Mr.  Prince  awoke  he  began  to  talk  to  Charlie  on 
the  subject  which  was  uppermost  in  his  thoughts. 

"  Do  you  ever  think  of  Jack  ?  "  he  asked  him  abruptly. 

Charlie,  startled  by  the  unexpected  question,  and  feeling 
rather  guilty,  admitted  that  he  did  sometimes  think  about  his 
eldest  brother. 

"  He  behaved  very  ill ;  nearly  broke  our  hearts,  in  fact," 
said  Mr.  Prince,  sadly,  "  but  that  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
be  entirely  forgotten." 

And  then  he  told  the  strange  tale  of  the  tramp  whom 
Lillywhite,  taking  for  Jack,  had  followed  to  Holmcroft,  and 


1 1 8  THE  PRINCES  OE  FEELE. 

his  supposed  recognition  by  Turnbull,  the  leather-seller,  ask- 
ing Charlie,  in  conclusion,  whether  he  had  ever  heard  of  a 
more  palpable  case  of  mistaken  identity. 

This  put  Charlie  in  a  dilemma.  He  had  agreed  with 
Edward  to  keep  Jack's  visit  secret ;  but  not  telling  something 
was  a  very  different  matter  from  telling  a  lie,  especially  to 
his  father,  who  had  always  treated  him  with  loving  confidence, 
and  to  whom  he  had  never  lied  even  when  he  was  a  small 
boy. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  a  more  palpable  case  of  mistaken 
identity .?  "  repeated  Mr.  Prince. 

Still  Charlie  hesitated. 

"  Why  don't  you  answer  ?     You  surely  don't  think — — " 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  a  lie,  father.  The  tramp  Lillywhite  saw 
was  Jack.     He  came  to  Holmcroft." 

"  Came  to  Holmcroft  !  How  ?  Good  heavens  ;  how  did 
it  happen,  and  why  were  we  not  told  ? " 

"  We  thought  it  would  only  make  you  and  mother  unhappy 
and  do  no  good,  and  if  we  had  taken  him  into  the  house  the 
servants  might  have  suspected  something.  He  was  in  such 
a  state — just  like  a  common  beggar,  so  we  took  him  in  the 
harness-room.     He  slept  there." 

"  Well,  perhaps  you  acted  for  the  best,"  said  ]\Ir.  Prince 
gloomily.  "  It  would  have  been  bad  if  the  thing  had  got 
wind  in  the  town.  All  the  same,  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
see  the  lad,  and  I  take  it  very  unkindly  of  Ned  that  he  kept 
me  in  the  dark  when  I  spoke  to  him  the  other  clay.  It  was 
not  straightforward.  Tell  me  all  about  it,  Charlie — how  he 
looked,  where  he  had  been,  and  what  doing." 

Charlie  told  him  ;  also  that  Jack  had  seen  them  at  prayers 
through  the  dining-room  window  ;  also  of  his  vow  that  he  would 
never  touch  drink  again,  or  rest  satisfied  until  he  had  repaid 
his  father  every  penny  that  his  defalcations  had  cost  him. 

"  Jack  makes  vows  with  as  much  facility  as  he  breaks  them," 
said  Mr.  Prince  bitterly,  "  When  a  man  takes  to  drink  he 
is  generally  past  praying  for.     God  !      What  a  wasted  life." 

"  I  don't  think  he  was  a  confirmed  drunkard,"  put  in  Charlie 
eagerly.  "  When  he  wrote  to  Ned  acknowledging  receipt  of 
the  money  he  said  that  since  leaving  Peele  he  had  tasted 
nothing  stronger  than  water,  and  never  would.  I  believe  Jack 
will  be  as  good  as  his  word  this  time,  father." 

"  You  are  more  sanguine  than  I  am.    If  you  only  knew " 


THE  PRIiXCES  OF  PEELE. 


119 


Here  Mr.  Prince  paused.  He  had  been  on  the  point  of 
letting  out  the  secret. 

"  Yes,  father,"  said  Charlie. 

"  If  you  only  knew  how  much  your  mother  and  I  have 
suffered  because  of  him  you  would  understand  our  feelings. 
But  enough  about  Jack.  Let  us  talk  about  yourself.  You 
will  stick  to  the  shop  while  I  am  away  and  give  Ned  all  the 
help  you  can." 

"  Of  course  I  will,  father,  I  give  you  my  word." 

"  I  know  you  don't  take  kindly  to  the  law,  and  I  am  sorry 
we  did  not  let  you  go  into  the  army ;  and  still  more  so  that 
we  did  not  let  Jack  go  into  the  navy.  But  your  mother 
thought  differently  and  she  had  her  way.  However,  use  is 
second  nature,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  end  in  liking 
the  profession,  as  I  did  myself.  And  now  I  am  going  to 
give  you  a  word  of  advice — perhaps  the  last  I  ever  shall  give 
you." 

"  You  are  surely  not  growing  nervous,  father,  or  having 
presentiments,  or  anything  of  that  sort,"  interrupted  Charlie 
with  a  smile.  "  Everybody  says  that  the  risk  of  a  voyage 
to  Trinidad  is  well  nigh  infinitesimal." 

"  I  was  not  thinking  of  the  risk — merely  of  the  uncertainty 
of  life  in  general.  Whenever  a  man  goes  away  for  three  or 
four  months  there  is  always  a  possibility  that  he  may  never 
come  back." 

"And  the  advice?" 

"  Is  this.  It  may  happen  to  you  in  life  to  have  to  choose 
between  following  the  dictates  of  your  conscience  and  your 
judgment — acting,  let  us  say,  as  if  left  to  yourself  it  would 
be  your  duty  to  act — and  pleasing  somebody  else,  somebody, 
it  may  be,  whom  you  are  desirous  to  please  and  would  make 
almost  any  sacrifices  to  serve,  one  who  will  put  great  pressure 
on  you.  In  that  case,  dear  boy,  do  the  right  thing,  and,  if 
you  have  any  doubt,  give  conscience  the  benefit  of  it.  It  may 
be  hard  at  the  time,  but  you  will  be  glad  afterwards,  and  you 
will  have  nothing  to  reproach  yourself  with,  and  right  can 
never  be  wrong,  nor  wrong  right." 

All  this  was  uttered  so  earnestly, and  with  so  much  feeling, 
that  if  the  speaker  had  been  anybody  but  his  own  father 
Charlie  might  have  surmised  that  he  spoke  from  bitter 
experience,  and  in  time  past  had  sinned  grievously  against  the 
light.     He  thanked  him  for  his  advice,  and  said  that  if  occa- 


I20  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

sion  should  arise  he  would  do  his  best  to  follow  it ;  and  then 
the  subject  dropped. 

The  arrival  at  Southampton,  the  trip  from  the  shore  to  the 
ship,  which  lay  at  her  moorings  off  Netley,  the  bustle  and 
excitement  on  board  raised  Mr.  Prince's  drooping  spirits. 
The  day  was  beautifully  fine,  and  it  seemed  certain  that  the 
voyage  would,  at  any  rate,  begin  well.  Charlie  went  below, 
inspected  his  father's  stateroom,  and  helped  him  to  arrange 
his  things. 

Then  they  turned  into  the  saloon  and  drank  success  to  the 
voyage  in  sparkling  moselle. 

"  I  wish  I  were  going  with  you,  father,"  said  Charlie.  "  I 
should  like  to  goto  the  West  Indies  immensely.  I  have  seen 
next  to  nothing  of  the  world  outside  Peele." 

"  I  wish  you  were,  lad,"  returned  Mr.  Prince,  heartily,  "  but 
I  fear  you  will  have  to  stay  at  home  this  time  ;  and  Peele  is 
not  half  a  bad  place.  You  might  go  further  and  fare  worse. 
Be  sure,  now,  to  tell  mother  I  shall  write  from  St.  Thomas's, 
and  by  every  mail  afterwards  ;  and  let  you  know  when  I  shall 
return — and,  if  you  like,  you  and  she  may  meet  me  here. 
They  say  the  Royal  Mail  steamers  arrive  almost  as  punctually 
as  they  depart ;  so  you  may  know  almost  to  a  day  when  to 
expect  me." 

Charlie  remained  on  board  to  the  last  moment,  and  waited 
alongside  until  the  Otrauto  cast  loose  from  her  moorings  ;  and 
as  the  great  paddles  turned  round,  the  father  from  the  taffrail 
of  the  steamer,  the  son  from  the  bows  of  his  boat  waved  to 
each  other  a  last  farewell,  little  doubting  that  in  a  few  months 
they  should  meet  again,  and  foreboding  naught  of  the 
momentous  consequences  which  Mr.  Prince's  voyage  would 
entail  on  him  and  his. 

As  it  was  too  late  to  get  back  to  Peele  the  same  night 
Charlie  slept  in  London,  and  resumed  his  journey  on  the 
following  morning. 

He  was  in  good  time  at  the  station  and  entered  a  compart- 
ment whose  only  other  occupant  was  a  traveller  so  deeply 
absorbed  in  a  newspaper  that  he  did  not  seem  to  notice 
Charlie's  arrival. 

"  Tickets,  please,  gentlemen,"   said   a  guard,   opening  the  ■ 
door.     "  Where  for  .?     Both  for  Peele.     All  right !  " 

Charlie  glanced  at  his  companion,  who  in  order  to  get  his 
ticket  had  laid  down  his  newspaper.     The  first  glance  was 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  12 1 

followed  by  a  second  and  a  third,  for  the  stranger  was  a  man 
worth  looking  at.  Charlie  guessed  him  to  be  twenty-five  years 
old,  and  six  feet  high.  His  shoulders  were  broad,  his  limbs 
long  and  muscular  ;  he  had  bright  humorous  eyes,  which, 
together  with  his  chestnut  hair,  fresh  color,  smooth  skin,  and 
beardless  face,  gave  him,  considering  his  proportions,  a  sin- 
gularly youthful  appearance.  In  dress  this  gentleman  was 
almost  a  dandy.  His  clothes,  gloves  and  boots  fitted  to  per- 
fection, and  his  shirt  front  was  lustrous  with  diamond  studs. 

"  We  are  bound  for  the  same  port,  it  seems,"  he  said,  as 
the  train  moved  out  of  the  station,  "  and  as  we  are  likely  to 
have  this  box  to  ourselves  all  the  way,  we  may  as  well  make 
ourselves  comfortable.     You  smoke,  of  course  ?  " 

"  Yes. " 

"  Let  us  smoke,  then." 

Whereupon  each  produced  a  cigar  case. 

"  Allow  me  to  offer  you  one  of  mine,"  said  the  stranger, 
whose  manner  was  easy  and  self-possessed.  "  They  are 
superb.  Part  of  a  lot  of  regalias  I  bought  myself  in  Cuba 
and  have  smuggled  through  half-a-dozen  Custom-houses.  I 
enjoy  a  little  smuggling.  It  comes  as  a  pleasant  relief  after 
the  tedium  of  a  voyage  ;  a  little  excitement,  you  know." 

Charlie  accepted  the  offer,  and  had  no  reason  to  regret  his 
choice.     It  was  the  finest  cigar  he  had  ever  smoked. 

"  You  have  been  to  the  West  Indies,  then.  I  have  just 
been  seeing  a  relative  off  to  Trinidad,"  he  said. 

"  I  have  been  there,  too.  A  pleasant  enough  place  for  a 
short  stay,  and  gloriously  picturesque.  I  don't  think  I  should 
like  to  stay  there  for  the  term  of  my  natural  life,  however. 
I'm  one  of  your  rolling  stones." 

"  Not  with  the  proverbial  result,  though,  if  I  may  judge  by 
your  appearance." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  have  gathered  a  little  moss  in  more  senses 
than  one  (glancing  complacently  at  his  brawny  arms  and 
glittering  studs).  Six  years  ago  I  was  nothing  but  skin  and 
bone,  and  as  poor  as  a  church  mouse.  And  now  I  am  going 
to  ask  a  question  which  I  hope  you  will  not  deem  impertinent. 
Do  you  live  at  Peele  ?  " 

"  I  live  in  the  neighborhood,  and  most  of  my  days  are 
spent  in  the  town." 

"  Then  you  will  know  a  place  called  All  Hallows." 

"Very  well." 


122  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  And  the  people  who  live  there — Mrs.  Susan  Lincoln  and 
her  daughter  Olive." 

"  They  are  dear  friends  of  ours." 

"  In  that  case  we  may  as  well  make  friends.  Mrs.  Lincoln 
is  my  cousin,  and  Paul  Coniston  is  my  name." 

"  And  America  your  nation  .-' " 

"  You  might  have  made  a  worse  guess,  Mr.  Prince,  thank 
you.     Don't  I  look  like  an  American  ? " 

"  My  experience  of  Americans  is  limited  ;  but  if  I  may 
hazard  an  opinion  I  should  say  decidedly  not." 

"  I  see.  Your  idea  of  an  American  is  a  lantern-jawed  lamp- 
post, with  high  cheek  bones,  a  sallow  skin,  and  a  nasal 
twang." 

"  Not  quite  so  bad  as  that,"  returned  Charlie  with  a  laugh. 

"  But  something  like  .''  " 

"  Well,  yes,  something." 

"  And  yet,  unless  you  have  been  in  the  States,  I'll  be  bound 
to  say  that  you  have  not  met  a  score  of  live  Americans  in 
your  life." 

"  If  you  mean  men,  I  have  not  met  more  than  three  or  four, 
yourself  included." 

"  I  thought  so.  You  should  not  make  old  women's  deduc- 
tions, young  man." 

"  Young  man,  indeed,"  quoth  Charlie,  firing  up,  "I  am  not 
much  younger  than  you  are." 

"  In  that  case  you  are  nearly  thirty." 

"  You  surely  don't  mean " 

"  I  mean  that  I  am  in  my  thirty-first  year.  You  think  I 
look  younger.  Well,  I  daresay  I  do,  and  I  can  tell  you  the 
reason  why.  When  I  was  seventeen  I  ran  away  from  college, 
and  volunteered  for  the  Mexican  war.  After  that  I  went 
overland  to  California,  and  for  ten  years  I  have  lived  out 
West,  in  one  of  the  finest  climates  in  the  world,  mostly  in  the 
saddle,  my  drink  water — when  I  could  get  nothing  stronger — 
my  food  beef,  without  vegetables.  If  I  had  stopped  in  Bos- 
ton, run  a  store,  and  chewed  tobacco,  I  daresay  I  should  have 
borne  a  faint  resemblance  to  the  Yankee  of  your  imagination." 

"  You  have  been  a  soldier,  then ;  you  have  seen  active 
service,"  said  Charlie,  with  sparkling  eyes.  "What  was 
your  rank  ? " 

"  Full  private  ;  then  sergeant.  Afterwards  when  we  were 
fighting  the  Apaches  the  boys  made  me  captain." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  123 

"  In  the  Mexican  war  !  Fighting  Indians  !  You  have  been 
fortunate." 

"  I  thought  so  at  the  end  of  it  all,  when  I  found  myself 
alive,  and  with  my  hair  on  my  head,"  said  Coniston  dryly. 
"  And  now  I  should  like  to  ask  you  a  question  or  two.  One 
good  turn  deserves  another,  you  know.  The  Lincolns,  are 
they  well  ? " 

"  Quite." 

"  I  was  sorry  to  hear  of  Lincoln's  death.  Anyhow,  he 
made  his  pile  and  left  his  wife  and  daughter  in  easy  circum- 
stances. When  a  man  does  that  he  may  be  forgiven  for 
dying,  and  those  he  leaves  behind  have  no  excuse  for  being 
inconsolable.  And  Olive  .^  The  last  time  I  saw  her  she  was 
as  pretty  as  a  peach.  How  is  she  now  ?  Has  she  fulfilled 
the  promise  of  her  childhood  ?  " 

"  Quite,  I  should  say.  You  will  have  to  go  a  long  way 
before  you  find  so  charming  a  girl  as  Olive  Lincoln." 

"  Has  she  a  sweetheart  ?  " 

This  was  a  poser,  but  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention, 
and  though  Charlie  colored  up  and  felt  rather  warm  he  got 
out  of  the  difficulty  better  than  might  have  been  expected. 

"  Has  she  a  sweetheart  ?  "  he  repeated,  with  a  surprised 
look,  as  if  the  question  had  startled  him  by  its  exceeding 
novelty.  "  I  have  not  heard  so,  and  as  she  is  only  just  out 
of  mourning  for  her  father  I  don't  think  it's  likely." 

"  Well,  she  ought  to  have  ;  and  I'll  see  if  I  cannot  find  her 
one  before  I  go  back." 

"  Confound  the  fellow,  what  does  he  mean  ? "  thought 
Charlie. 

"  Why,  if  she  were  out  West,"  continued  Mr.  Coniston, 
"if  she  were  out  West  she  would  have  been  the  deaths  of 
two  or  three  tall  fellows  by  this  time.  A  few  years  ago,  when 
I  was  on  the  Rio  Colorado  with  an  outfit,  a  Mexican  niun^ 
with  a  nut-brown  skin  and  big  black  eyes, — as  beautiful  as 
Cleopatra,  she  was, — used  to  come  over  the  river  in  a  dugout, 
singing  and  playing  the  banjo,  and  with  her  coquettish  ways 
and  her  Spanish  love-songs  she  just  drove  the  boys  wild  ;  and 
though  I  warned  them  to  give  her  a  wide  berth,  for  those 
Greasers  are  as  treacherous  as  panthers  and  as  jealous  as 
Turks  (they  will  greet  you,  smiling,  with  one  hand,  and  knife 
you  with  the  other),  they  must  go  one  night  to  a  fandango 
where  they  knew  she  was  to  be  present.     \\'ell,  I  heard  next 


124  '^HP-  PR^^^CES  OF  PEELE. 

morning  there  had  been  trouble,  and  when  I  went  to  the 
casino  I  found  four  of  them  stretched  out  like  sardines  in  a 
box." 

"  And  what  became  of  the  young  lady  ?  " 

"  Never  saw  her  again.  I  expect  the  caballero  spirited  her 
away — perhaps  cut  her  throat.  Quien  sabe  ?  It  is  dangerous 
work  courting  a  Mexican  7ii/ia,  I  can  tell  you.  There  is  only 
one  way.  You  must  have  your  bowie  handy  and  your  six- 
shooter  loaded  ;  and  if  a  Greaser  sneaks  up  to  you  with  his 
hat  in  his  hand  and  a  smile  on  his  face  shoot  him  down  be- 
fore he  has  time  to  draw,  and  then  get  the  drop  on  his  amigo, 
for  Greasers  don't  often  attack  unless  they  are  two  to  one. 
This  is  a  beautiful  country  we  are  travelling  through.  What 
is  the  name  of  that  pretty  village  with  the  ivy-clad  church.?  " 

Charlie  told  him,  and  then  Mr.  Coniston  inquired  how 
soon  they  should  arrive  at  Peele  and  how  far  it  was  from  the 
"  deepo  "  to  All  Hallows.  Charlie,  guessing  that  he  meant 
station,  answered  "two  miles." 

"  That's  a  long  way,"  observed  Mr.  Coniston,  "  I  suppose 
there  are  teams  to  be  got .''  " 

Charlie,  who  was  being  rapidly  initiated  into  the  niceties 
of  the  American  language,  said  that  there  were  always  flies 
in  waiting  at  Peele  station. 

"  Let  us  fly  it,  then.  The  only  thing  I  object  to  is  walk- 
ing. And  now,  Mr.  Prince,  I  have  a  great  favor  to  ask  of 
you — I  want  you  to  go  along  to  All  Hallowsand  introduce  me." 

"  Introduce  you !  You  don't  require  introducing.  You 
have  only  to  send  in  your  card,  you  know."  ■ 

"  That  would  let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  and  I  want  to  see 
whether  they  will  recognize  me.  Now  if  you  go  along  you 
can  perhaps  take  me  in  as  your  friend,  without  giving  my 
name." 

Charlie  knew  that  Edward  would  expect  him  to  call  at  the 
office  before  going  home  ;  but  the  chance  of  seeing  Olive  and 
the  reception  of  her  surprising  cousin  being  too  good  to  be 
lost,  he  agreed  to  accompany  the  gentleman  in  question  to 
All  Hallows. 

So  at  Peele  they  exchanged  the  train  for  a  cab.  But  the 
horse  left  a  good  deal  to  be  desired. 

"  Call  this  a  fly  !  "  said  Mr.  Coniston,  as  they  jogged  on 
at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour.  "  Call  this  a  fly  t  I  call  it 
a  hearse,  and  slow  at  that." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


125 


However,  they  arrived  in  the  end. 

"  Are  the  hidies  at  home  ?  "  asked  Charlie  of  the  servant 
who  came  to  the  door. 

"  They  are  in  the  south  garden,  sir,  under  the  mulberry 
tree.     Shall  I  announce  you  and  this  gentleman  ?  " 

"  No,  Thomas,  we  will  join  them.     This  way,  Mr.  Coniston." 

It  was  a  fine  old-fashioned  English  garden,  with  shrubs 
cut  into  shapes,  shady  walks  running  at  right  angles  to  each 
other,  like  the  streets  of  an  American  town,  flower  beds  bril- 
liant with  tulips  and  rose-trees  ;  and  an  emerald  lawn,  in  the 
middle  whereof  grew  a  wide-spreading  mulberry  tree,  laden 
with  purple  fruit.  Under  its  branches  were  two  rocking- 
chairs,  in  one  of  which  sat  Mrs.  Lincoln  knitting  a  stocking, 
and  in  the  other  Miss  Lincoln  reading  a  novel. 

Olive  wore  a  soft  creamy  gown  and  a  low-crowned  sailor 
hat  trimmed  with  blue,  and  at  her  breast  were  a  red  rosebud 
and  a  sprig  of  stephanotis.  Her  lover  thought  she  was  the 
loveliest  thing  in  all  that  garden  fair,  and  Mr.  Coniston 
owned  to  himself  that  Charlie  had  in  nowise  exaggerated 
her  charms. 

As  the  two  men  made  towards  the  mulberry  tree,  mother 
and  daughter  looked  up  in  surprise,  and  asked  each  other 
who  was  the  stranger. 

"  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  bringing  with  me  a  friend, 
who  is  wishful  to  make  your  acquaintance,  Mrs.  Lincoln," 
said  Charlie. 

Coniston  took  off  his  hat  with  a  flourish,  and,  after  bow- 
ing, raised  his  head  and  threw  back  his  long  hair,  as  if  to  in- 
vite inspection. 

"  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  very  glad,  but " 

"  Dear  me  !  What  am  I  thinking  about .''  I  have  not  told 
you  his  name,"  interrupted  Charlie.  "  Mr.  Paul  Coniston, 
from  the  wild  West,  Mrs. " 

"  Paul  Coniston,  and  I  did  not  know  him  !  "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Lincoln.  "  And  no  wonder  ;  he  is  quite  another  man. 
Llis  own  mother  would  not  know  him." 

"  Oh,  what  a  shameful  take  in.  This  is  your  doing, 
Charlie,"  said  Olive  reproachfully. 

"  Not  at  all ;  it  is  my  doing  entirely.  I  wanted  to  see 
whether  you  would  recognize  me,"  and  with  that  Mr.  Paul 
took  Mrs.  Lincoln's  hand  and  kissed  her  dutifully,  which 
done  he  put  his  arm  round  Olive's  waist  and  kissed  her  with 


126  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

evident  relish,  a  proceeding  which  Charlie  admired  so  little 
that  he  made  as  if  he  would  take  his  leave. 

"  Oh,  don't  go  yet,"  said  Mrs.  Lincoln.  "  Stay  and  have 
a  cup  of  tea.  We  don't  dine  till  seven,  Paul,  and  as  you 
must  be  hungry  we  will  have  tea  here,  under  the  mulberry 
tree." 

Paul  made  a  slight  grimace  at  the  word  "  tea,"  but  said 
*'  With  all  my  heart ;  "  and  a  table  and  chairs  were  brought, 
and  the  tea  things  set  out  amid  a  perfect  storm  of  questions 
and  answers. 

"  So  you  have  not  a  sweetheart,  it  seems,  Olive  ?  "  observed 
Coniston,  after  he  had  given  an  account  of  himself. 

"  Who  says  so  .-'  " 

"  Mr.  Prince.     I  asked  him  as  we  came  along." 

"Do  you  think  if  I  had  one  I  should  tell  him  ?  "  returned 
Olive,  glancing  archly  at  her  lover. 

"Olive,  I  am  surprised,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Lincoln,  bridling. 
"  I  must  really  beg  of  you  not  to  put  such  ideas  into  the 
child's  head,  Paul." 

"  I  don't  think  I  have,  Susan.  You  may  depend  they  are 
there  already  by  the  light  of  nature." 

"  I  should  hope  not,  Olive  has  been  very  carefully  brought 
up,  let  me  tell  you.  She  is  much  too  young  It  would  be 
quite  against  her  dear  father's  wish,  as  expressed  in  his  will ; 
and  I  could  not  permit  anything  of  the  sort  for  at  least  three 
years  to  come." 

"  And  yet  you  were  engaged  at  seventeen  and  married  at 
nineteen !  But  you  were  not  an  heiress.  Snakes !  how 
circumstances  alter  cases.  Come  now,  Susan,  I'll  lay  you  a 
thousand  dollars  to  twenty  that  Olive  has  a  sweetheart 
before  the  year  is  out." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  made  a  deprecatory  gesture,  and  asked  her 
daughter  for  another  cup  of  tea. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  127 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Charlie's  somersault. 

One  day,  during  Charlie's  absence,  Edward  called  at  the 
Beehive  to  bait  his  horse  and  refresh  himself.  The  land- 
lady, a  comely  woman  with  a  foolish  tongue,  thinking  to  do 
her  guest  pleasure,  made  a  polite  inquiry  after  Mr.  Charles 
and  his  sweetheart. 

"  Sweetheart !  What  on  earth  do  you  mean,  Mrs.  Mari- 
gold .''     He  has  no  sweetheart." 

"  I  ask  your  pardon,  sir.  I  meant  the  young  lady  as  he 
called  with  in  April,  after  the  hunting — Miss  Lincoln,  you 
know.  They  had  tea  in  my  back  parlor,  and  walked  in  the 
garden  and  stopped  nearly  two  hours,  and  he  seemed  so 
loving  and  she  so  kind  that  I  felt  sure  they  was  courting. 
But  maybe  I  was  mistaken." 

"  Of  course  you  were  mistaken.  There  is  nothing  of  the 
sort,  I  assure  you,  Mrs.  Marigold.  Two  hours,  did  you 
say?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  should  say  quite  two  hours." 

Mrs.  Marigold  meant  well,  but  she  could  no  more  help 
exaggerating  than  she  could  help  talking.  Olive  and  Charlie 
had  not  stayed  in  her  house  more  than  an  hour,  but  Edward, 
though  not  generally  prone  to  accept  uncorroborated  state- 
ments, fully  believed  her,  and  he  felt  very  sore.  His  worst 
fears  were  confirmed.  Unless  they  had  an  understanding — 
unless,  in  fact,  they  were  secretly  engaged,  they  would  never 
dawdle  two  hours  over  afternoon  tea  in  the  parlor  of  a  coun- 
try inn. 

"  He  was  loving  and  she  was  kind.  " 

When  Edward  thought  of  the  love-making  that  doubtless 
went  on  in  that  same  parlor  he  gnashed  his  teeth.  It  was 
a  positive  scandal ;  it  must  be  put  a  stop  to.     But  how? 

He  was  always  brought  up  with  the  "  how."  To  tell  Mrs. 
Lincoln  might  do  more  harm  than  good.  It  would  certainly 
injure  him  with  Olive  ;  and  as   he    had  only  hearsay  to  go 


128  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

upon,  the  story  might  be  discredited,  reference  to  Mrs.  Mari- 
gold being  in  the  circumstances  quite  out  of  the  question. 

The  best  plan — if  he  could  only  hit  upon  one — would  be 
to  bring  the  facts  to  Mrs,  Lincoln's  knowledge  without 
incurring  the  reproach  of  tale-bearing,  or,  better  still,  without 
appearing  in  the  matter  at  all. 

The  idea  of  sending  her  an  anonymous  letter  was  con 
ceived  only  to  be  rejected.  He  would  either  have  to  write  it 
himself  or  get  some  other  body  to  write  it.  In  the  latter 
event  he  would  put  himself  in  the  other  body's  power ;  in 
the  former,  his  writing  might  be  recognized,  and  then  his 
second  condition  would  be  worse  than  his  first. 

There  seemed  nothing  for  it  but  to  persevere  in  his  policy 
of  watching  and  waiting. 

With  this  unsolved  problem  in  his  mind  Edward  was 
naturally  not  in  the  best  of  humors,  and  when  Charlie 
turned  up,  shortly  before  dinner-time,  his  brother  asked  him 
somewhat  sharply  how  he  came  to  be  so  late. 

"  I  called  at  All  Hallows,"  was  the  answer. 

"  What  on  earth  for?  You  are  always  calling  at  All  Hal- 
lows, I  think." 

"  I  don't  call  as  often  as  you  :  and,  as  it  happened,  I  had 
a  very  good  reason  for  calling,"  returned  Charlie  with  some 
heat. 

"  How  did  you  leave  your  father,  Charlie  ?  Tell  us  all 
about  him,  and  then  you  can  tell  us  why  you  called  at  All 
Hallows,"  interposed  Mrs.  Prince. 

After  giving  an  account  of  his  father's  departure  and 
delivering  his  message,  Charlie  explained  why  he  called  at 
All  Hallows. 

His  description  of  Paul  Coniston  appeared  to  interest  his 
mother  and  Edward  greatly. 

"  Strange  that  we  never  have  heard  of  him  before," 
observed  Mrs.  Prince.  "  From  what  you  say  he  must  be  very 
good-looking." 

"  He  is  one  of  the  best-looking  men  I  ever  met,  and  very 
bright  and  amusing." 

"  Is  he  a  bachelor  ?  "  asked  Edward,  thoughtfully. 

"  I  did  not  ask  him,  but  I  should  say  he  is,  decidedly.  At 
any  rate,  he  acts  and  talks  like  one,"  said  Charlie,  thinking 
rather  ruefully  of  the  more  than  cousinly  affection  with  which 
Olive  had  greeted  her  stalwart  cousin. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


129 


Edward  smiled.  The  American  might  prove  a  useful  foil 
to  Charlie,  perhaps  set  him  and  Olive  at  variance,  and  it 
would  be  strange  if  the  complication  thus  arising  did  not 
turn  to  the  elder  brother's  advantage.  When  certain  people 
fall  out  honest  folk  get  their  own. 

After  dinner,  as  they  were  smoking  in  the  garden,  Edward 
told  Charlie  about  Lillywhite  having  seen  and  recognized 
Jack,  and  inquired  whether  his  father  had  referred  to  the 
incident. 

Charlie  said  he  had,  and  related  all  that  had  passed. 

"  Well,  that  is  what  I  call  an  infernal  shame,"  exclaimed 
Edward,  "  after  I  had  denied  it,  too.  It  is  a  positive  breach  of 
our  understanding.  Didn't  we  agree  that  they  should  be 
kept  in  the  dark?" 

"  We  agreed  not  to  tell  them.  But  father  asked  me  point- 
blank,  and  I  could  not  tell  him  a  lie." 

"You  might  have  evaded  the  question,  as  I  did." 

"  He  put  it  in  such  a  way  that  I  could  not  evade  it — hon- 
estly." 

"  You  mean  that  I  was  not  honest." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  that.  I  did  not  hear  what  passed 
between  you.     I  only  speak  for  myself." 

"  Anyhow,  you  did  not  behave  honestly  to  me." 

Charlie  retorted,  and  there  v/as  a  quarrel  which  left  a  sore 
feeling  behind  it,  and  the  breach  between  the  two  brothers, 
instead  of  healing,  widened  almost  daily.  Edward,  who  was 
a  good  organizer,  managed  the  office  well.  He  drew  the 
bonds  of  discipline  tighter,  got  more  work  out  of  the  clerks, 
cut  down  expenses,  and  did  other  good  things.  But  he  was 
too  arrogant  and  dictatorial,  and  rubbed  people  the  wrong 
way,  thereby  provoking  remonstrances  from  both  Lillywhite 
and  Charlie  ;  and  the  relations  between  the  brothers  grew  at 
last  so  strained  that,  except  before  their  mother  and  on  busi- 
ness, they  seldom  spoke  to  each  other. 

Meanwhile,  Paul  Coniston  was  proving  a  great  social  suc- 
cess. Though  he  went  occasionally  to  London,  he  made 
All  Hallows  his  headquarters,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  time  there.  Mrs.  Lincoln  introduced  him  to  all  her 
friends  ;  and  Olive  was  evidently  proud  of  him  as  a  typical 
American,  racy  of  the  soil.  In  thews,  sinews,  manly  presence, 
and  good  looks,  Peele  could  not  show  his  equal ;  and  though, 
as  might  be  expected  of  a  man  who  had  passed  a  great  part 

9 


130  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

of  his  life  in  fighting  Indians,  ranching  cattle,  and  seeking 
gold,  he  lacked  polish,  his  manner  was  frank  and  open,  his 
talk  fluent  and  picturesque.  Being,  moreover,  supposed  to  be 
rich,  he  soon  became  highly  popular,  and  the  ladies  of  All 
Hallows  and  himself  were  always  either  making  visits  or 
receiving  visitors,  giving  dinners,  or  dining  out. 

As  Paul  one  day  remarked  to  Olive,  he  was  having  a  high 
old  time. 

These  festivities,  however,  though  he  took  part  in  most  of 
them,  did  not  greatly  exhilarate  Charlie  Prince.  In  truth,  he 
was  just  then  tormented  by  two  demons,  envy  and  jealousy. 
Albeit  only  some  nine  years  his  senior,  Paul  Coniston  had 
distinguished  himself  in  war  and  made  a  fortune,  and  lived, 
and  would  live  again,  the  wild  free  life  of  the  far  West.  No 
wonder  Olive  was  fond  of  him,  and  Lydia  Spankaway  quite 
"gone"  on  him.  No  wonder  men  crowded  round  him  to 
hear  his  anecdotes  and  enjoy  his  jokes.  What  chance  had 
a  mere  quill-driver  with  this  hero  and  fire-eater  ?  It  was  not 
that  Olive  had  given  her  sweetheart  the  cold  shoulder.  She 
still  responded  to  the  pressure  of  his  hand,  and  when  they 
could  exchange  a  word  unobserved  was  as  kind  as  ever.  But 
she  was  equally  kind  to  Coniston,  whose  attentions  were  so 
marked  and  so  well  received  that  some  people  set  them  down 
as  an  engaged  couple.  There  could  be  no  doubt,  thought 
Charlie,  that  he  had  lost  her  love — perhaps  in  spite  of  her- 
self— and  as  he  did  not  care  to  have  the  name  without  the 
reality,  he  resolved — after  enduring  much  agony  of  mind — to 
give  her  back  her  promise,  and,  on  the  first  opportunity,  tell 
her  that  if  she  preferred  Paul  Coniston  he  would  not  stand 
in  the  way.  But  this  resolve  rather  aggravated  than  relieved 
his  torments  ;  he  fell  into  a  condition  of  extreme  despondency, 
alternating  with  fits  of  jealous  rage,  and  presently  arrived  at 
the  conclusion,  usual  in  like  circumstances,  that  life  was  a 
mistake,  and  he  should  never  know  happiness  again. 

The  desired  opportunity  came  in  the  shape  of  a  garden 
party,  to  which  were  invited  most  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  friends 
and  acquaintances  in  the  neighborhood  of  Peele,  also  several 
members  of  the  Riversdale  Hunt  and  their  womenfolk. 

Charlie  arrived  at  All  Hallows  rather  late,  and  found  Cap- 
tain Coniston  (as  it  was  the  fashion  to  call  him)  the  centre  of 
an  admiring  throng,  among  whom  were  Lydia  Spankaway  and 
Olive.     He  was  telling  an   anecdote  which,  judging  by  the 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  131 

laughter  it  provoked,  was  highly  amusing.  But,  after  nodding 
nonchalantly  to  Paul,  and  doffing  his  hat  to  the  ladies,  Char- 
lie passed  on  and  joined  Kate  Conyers  and  Mary  Spankaway 
in  a  game  of  croquet,  lawn-tennis  being  not  yet. 

The  game  finished,  they  strolled  through  the  grounds,  and, 
on  the  proposal  of  Miss  Spankaway,  who  had  the  equine 
tastes  common  to  her  family,  went  to  the  paddock  to  look  at 
the  horses  ;  and  there  found  Coniston,  Olive,  Edward  Prince, 
and  two  or  three  others,  who  were  come  on  the  same  errand. 
Their  talk  was  naturally  horsey,  and  the  captain  was  express- 
ing his  regret  that  he  should  be  obliged  to  leave  England 
before  the  hunting  season  began. 

"  I  don't  think  it  can  beat  buffalo-hunting,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  have  heard  so  much  about  the  jumping  prowess  of  your 
English  horses  that  I  should  like  to  see  how  they  do  it." 

"  What  sort  of  jumping  have  you  on  the  prairies  .''  "  asked 
Teddy  Spankaway. 

"  Buck  jumping,  and  plenty  of  it,  as  high  as  you  like  to  go. 
But  no  gates  and  ditches  or  anything  of  that  sort.  You  may 
ride  hundreds  of  miles  and  meet  no  obstacle  bigger  than  a 
match  box.     How  would  you  get  over  that,  now  ?  " 

"  That  "  was  a  fence  enclosing  the  paddock — a  bank  topped 
with  a  rail  and  bounded  by  a  ditch,  a  fair,  though  rather  for- 
midable, jump,  when  hounds  were  running,  but  not  to  be 
undertaken  with  a  light  heart  in  cold  blood. 

"  We  should  jump  it,"  said  Charlie  quietly. 

*'  You  would  need  a  big  horse." 

"  Not  at  all.  Rataplan  is  hardly  fifteen  hands,  and  he 
would  do  it  easy  enough." 

Coniston  glanced  significantly  at  the  horse,  which  was  graz- 
ing in  the  paddock,  and  then  at  the  fence. 

"  You  doubt  it !  "  exclaimed  Charlie,  who  was  dying  to 
eclipse  the  captain.  "  Well,  I'll  bet  you  a  fiver  I'll  ride  him 
over  it  bareback  now — if  Miss  Lincoln  will  allow  me." 

Olive  hesitated,  and  then  answered  rather  coldly : 

"  Very  well — if  you  promise  neither  to  hurt  Rataplan  nor 
yourself.     I  think  he  can  do  it." 

"  I  am  sure  he  can." 

And  with  that  Charlie  went  towards  the  stables  and  called 
to  a  helper  to  bring  a  bridle.  The  bridle  was  brought,  and 
the  helper  gave  him  a  leg  up.  Charlie  cantered  Rataplan 
round  the  paddock  to  get   his  blood  up  ;    then,  leaning  well 


132 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


back,  and  gripping  tightly  with  bent  knees,  he  put  the  horse 
at  the  fence. 

Rataplan  went  over  at  a  bound,  without  touching  ;  where- 
upon everybody  shouted,   "  Well  done  !  " 

"  It  was  very  well  done  indeed,"  said  Coniston.  "  I  see 
that  Mr.  Prince  can  ride." 

"  Of  course  he  can,  and  Rataplan  can  jump,"  added  Olive, 
with  a  gratified  smile.  It  pleased  her  to  think  that  her  lover 
and  her  horse  had  equally  distinguished  themselves. 

Meanwhile,  Rataplan,  being  very  fresh,  and  having  a  good 
deal  of  way  on,  was  galloping  across  the  next  field  ;  and 
Charlie  had  to  pull  hard  in  order  to  stop  him. 

"  How  will  he  get  back?"  asked  Coniston. 

"By  the  gate,  of  course,"  said  Teddy  Spankaway  ;  "I'll 
run  and  open  it." 

Charlie,  however,  had  no  such  intention.  Having  turned 
Rataplan  round  he  made  straight  for  the  fence,  which  this 
time  was  not  a  fair  jump.  The  ditch  being  now  on  the  tak- 
ing-off  side  and  the  field  lower  than  the  paddock,  it  was  a 
far  more  difficult  feat  than  before. 

"  Don't  try  it,  Prince.  It  is  too  much,"  shouted  Teddy, 
while  Olive  and  the  other  girls  waved  him  back. 

Charlie,  whose  blood  was  up,  gave  no  heed  to  their  warn- 
ings. He  rode  on  as  straight  as  a  bullet.  Rataplan  rose 
nobly  at  the  obstacle,  but  hitting  the  rail  with  his  fore-legs, 
turned  a  complete  somersault,  as  he  had  done  on  a  previous 
occasion,  and  landed  in  the  paddock  with  his  heels  in  the 
air,  his  rider,  as  it  seemed,  under  him. 

The  girls  gave  a  terrified  shriek,  and  the  men  rushed  to 
the  spot  in  dire  dismay,  but  Charlie  had  fortunately  fallen 
clear,  and  with  admirable  presence  of  mind  rolled  away  as  the 
horse  turned  over  in  the  effort  to  rise. 

"  This  beats  buck-jumping,"  said  Coniston.  "  Many  a 
man  knows  how  to  ride  ;  but  it  is  not  everybody  who  knows 
how  to  fall." 

Olive  was  very  pale,  but  no  paler  than  were  Mary  Spank- 
away and  Kate  Conyers. 

"  I  never  saw  anything  more  foolish.  Didn't  you  see  that 
it  was  an  impossible  jump  ?  "  she  said,  severely. 

"  Anyhow,  I  got  over  it,"  replied  Charlie,  who,  though 
rather  white,  was  smiling.  "  And  I  have  kept  my  promise — 
neither  of  us  is  hurt — and  won  my  bet." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


133 


"  And  nearly  lost  your  life,"  put  in  Teddy  Spankaway.  "  If 
you  had  fallen  under  instead  of  on  one  side  you  would  have 
been  crushed  as  flat  as  a  pancake." 

"  And  we  should  have  got  the  insurance  money  and  rein- 
stated the  trust  fund,  and  a  troublesome  rival  would  have 
been  out  of  my  way,"  thought  Edward. 

The  idea  came  unbidden,  and  Edward  was  fully  conscious 
of  its  wickedness  ;  but  once  conceived  it  was  not  easily  dis- 
missed :  it  recurred  to  him  again  and  again  ;  even  in  the 
night  watches  it  would  thrust  itself  into  his  thoughts  : 

"  If  Charlie  had  fallen  under  instead  of  on  one  side  we 
should  have  got  the  insurance  money,  and  I  should  be  sure 
of  Olive !  " 


134  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
"mv    little    hunter." 

"  Come  into  the  house  and  have  a  drink,  Mr.  Charles," 
said  Coniston,  kindly.     "  That  fall  must  have  shaken  you." 

They  returned  to  the  garden,  and  presently  the  guests 
began  to  leave  ;  but  Mrs.  Lincoln  invited  all  who  would  to 
stay  for  dinner,  and  have  a  dance  in  the  cool  of  the  evening. 

Among  those  who  accepted  the  invitation  was  Charlie, 
and  when  the  dancing  began  he  danced  with  Olive. 

"  I  want  to  speak  to  you,"  he  whispered. 

"  And  I  want  to  speak  to  you.  Go  into  the  shrubbery 
behind  the  fish-pond.  I  will  come  to  you  as  soon  as  I 
can." 

When  he  had  conducted  his  sweetheart  to  her  seat,  Charlie 
slipped  out  of  the  room  unobserved,  and  betook  himself  to 
the  trysting  place,  a  path  winding  between  tall  shrubs,  and 
so  overshadowed  by  trees  that  even  on  that  fair  summer 
evening  it  was  almost  as  dark  as  a  moonless  midnight. 

Presently  he  heard  a  footfall  on  the  gravel. 

"  Hist !  Is  that  you  .''  "  he  asked,  as  a  shawled  figure  came 
noiselessly  towards  him. 

"  Yes,  and  what  we  have  to  say  must  be  said  quickly,  or 
we  shall  be  missed.     I  thought  you  loved  me,  Charlie  t " 

"  I  do  love  you.  You  know  I  love  you — with  all  my  heart 
— and  yet " 

"  Why  are  you  so  unkind,  then  ?  " 

This  took  the  wind  out  of  Charlie's  sails  completely.  He 
had  meant  to  reproach  her,  and  here  she  was  imputing  to 
him  the  very  fault  of  which,  in  his  thoughts,  he  accused  her  ; 
and  it  began  to  dawn  on  his  mind  that  he  had  perhaps  been 
making  rather  a  fool  of  himself. 

"  I,  unkind  to  you !  "  he  stammered.  "  It  is  impossible. 
I  never  thought  of  such  a  thing.     I  even  imagined " 

"  What  ? " 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


135 


"That  you  had  ceased  to  love  me." 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  do  you  want  to  break  my  heart  ?  "  she  mur- 
mured, with  a  half  sob,  and  made  as  if  she  would  go  away. 

What  could  he  do  but  cry  peccai'i,  and  protest  that  he  was 
a  brute,  and  kiss  away  her  tears  and  entreat  her  forgiveness  .-' 

Having  brought  him  to  this  pass  Olive  laughed,  and  called 
him  a  foolish  boy,  and  said  that  she  really  believed  he  had 
been  jealous  of  her  cousin  Paul. 

"  Weren't  you  now  .''  "  she  asked. 

"  Well,  just  a  little.  You  seem  so  fond  of  him,  and  are 
nearly  always  with  him." 

"Naturally.  He  is  our  guest  and  my  cousin,  and  a  very 
fine  fellow,  as  you  must  admit.  But  my  liking  for  him  makes 
no  difference  in  my  love  for  you.  Was  it  jealousy  that  made 
you  take  that  mad  leap  to-day  1     The  truth,  now !  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  must  have  been  mad." 

"  I  am  sure  you  were.  Suppose  you  had  been  killed  ! 
Oh,  when  I  think  of  it  I  tremble  all  over." 

"  Dear  heart !     But  you  forgive  me,  don't  you,  darling  ?  " 

"  Yes,  on  one  condition." 

"  What  is  it  ?  But  never  mind.  I  accept  it,  whatever  it 
is." 

"  That  you  don't  do  so  any  more,  and  have  limitless  con- 
fidence in  me,  and  keep  nothing  back  from  me  that  is  in  your 
mind ;  and  put  the  best,  not  the  worst,  construction  on  any- 
thing I  may  do.  Be  sure  I  have  good  reasons,  and  if  I  give 
you  all  my  love  you  must  give  me  all  your  confidence." 

"  I  agree." 

"  Fully  ? " 

"  Fully." 

"  And  now  I  have  something  to  tell  you.  We  are  going 
to  Switzerland  next  week." 

"  You  and  your  mother  ?  " 

"  Yes,  also  Paul.  He  asked  us  to  go  with  him,  and,  as  the 
long  vacation  is  close  at  hand,  and  the  law  courts  will  be 
closed,  mother  can  be  spared  two  or  three  months.  After- 
wards, Paul  will  return  to  America,  sailing  from  Havre,  I 
think." 

"  And  you  will  be  two  or  three  months  away  ?  " 

"  Perhaps." 

"  That  will  be  dreadful." 

"  Yes  ;  it  will  be  rather  trying.     But,  in  consideration  of 


136  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

your  penitence,  and  your  promise  not  to  be  jealous  and  un- 
kind any  more,  I  shall  write  to  you." 

"  Dear  Olive  !  " 

"  Shall  I  address  my  letters — I  don't  think  it  will  be  wise 
to  write  more  than  one  or  two — to  Holmcroft  or  the  office  ? " 

"  The  office.  .  Never  a  letter  comes  to  me  at  home  that 
my  mother  does  not  ask  whom  it  is  from.  How  shall  I 
address  mine  to  you  ? " 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  address  any. 
I  will  tell  you  when  I  write.  And  now  you  must  let  me  go. 
No,  I  cannot  stop  longer,  I  have  the  guests  to  look  after,  you 
know.      Mother  will  be  wondering  what  has  become  of  me." 

As  they  turned  out  of  the  shrubbery  whom  should  they 
meet  but  Paul  Coniston  ! 

"  Hello  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  two  here  !  But  never 
mind  ;  I  won't  tell.  I  guessed  as  much  some  time  ago — saw 
it  in  this  gentleman's  face  when  I  mentioned  your  name  to 
him  in  the  cars,  Olive.  However,  your  secret  is  quite  safe 
with  me." 

"  I  am  sure  it  is,  Paul.  You  are  as  good  as  gold.  But  I 
must  really  run  away.     Tell  him  about  Myra,  Paul." 

"  Who  is  Myra  t  "  asked  Charlie,  as  Olive  hurried  towards 
the  house. 

"  A  little  girl  at  Boston  I  am  going  to  marry  and  take  out 
West.  That  is  my  secret.  At  any  rate  it  was  before  I  told 
Olive," 

"  I  congratulate  you  heartily,"  said  Charlie,  feeling  now 
quite  sure  that  he  had  made  a  fool  of  himself. 

"  Thank  you.  Perhaps  you  will  be  coming  to  America 
one  of  these  days." 

Charlie  shook  his  head. 

"  You  are  sure  to  do  if  all  goes  on  right — and  then  I  hope 
we  shall  meet  again,  and  you  will  afford  me  an  opportunity  of 
introducing  you  to  the  young  woman  in  question.  Frankly, 
Mr.  Prince,  I  like  you,  and  I  think  Olive  has  made  an  excel- 
lent choice.  The  way  you  turned  a  somersault  over  that 
fence  excited  my  unbounded  admiration.  Why  aren't  you  a 
cowboy  ?  Yes,  when  you  come  to  the  States  you  must  seek 
me  out  and  we  will  have  a  high  old  time.  Meanwhile,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  do  anything  for  you  in  my  power.  Can  I 
serve  you  in  any  way  ?  " 

"  You  are  very  kind.     Well,  if  you  should  chance  to  meet 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  137 

— it  is  not  likely,  I  know,  but  it  is  possible — if  you  should 
chance  to  meet  a  man  of  the  name  of  Mark  Darnley,  you 
might  give  him  a  message  from  me." 

"  Where  is  he  ?  " 

"  All  I  can  tell  you  is  that  he  landed  in  New  York  last 
November  and  went  West." 

"  That  is  very  vague,  Mr.  Prince.  The  chances  are  about 
ten  millions  to  one  against  my  coming  across  this  gentleman 
before  I  die — afterwards,  perhaps." 

"  The  impossible  happens  sometimes." 

"  What  is  he  like  .?  " 

Charlie  described  Jack. 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  Mr.  Darnley  if  the  impossible  does 
happen  ? " 

"  Say  that  you  have  been  to  Peele  and  seen  us  all,  and  give 
him  my  love." 

"  Good  !  I  will  make  a  note  of  it ;  and  if  I  do  meet  him 
you  may  be  sure  I  shall  not  forget  to  deliver  your  message." 

When  the  two  men  rejoined  the  other  guests  in  the  house 
they  found  that  music  had  been  substituted  for  dancing,  and 
at  Olive's  request  her  cousin  produced  his  banjo  and,  to  his 
own  accompaniment,  sang  a  Spanish  love-song,  which,  though 
nobody  understood  it,  appeared  to  give  general  satisfaction. 
Then  Charlie,  also  at  Olive's  request,  followed  with  a  hunting- 
song  known  as  "  My  Little  Hunter,"  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

My  Little  Hunter. 

I've  as  nice  a  little  hunter  as  e'er  you'd  wish  to  see, 
So  high  she  lifts  her  fore-foot,  so  proudly  bends  her  knee ; 
Her  fiery  head  and  nostrils  red  assert  her  noble  blood  ; 
Deep  is  her  girth,  and  hocks  she  has  that  send  her  through  the  mud. — 
My  gallant  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay. 

Now  see  her  at  the  covert  side,  responsive  to  my  hand. 
While  other  horses  fret  and  fume  how  quietly  she'll  stand  ; 
But  when  hounds  proclaim  a  find,  and  "  forward  "  is  the  cry, 
She'll  fling  the  dirt  behind  her,  and  o'er  the  pastures  fly, — 
My  gallant  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay. 

The  scent  is  good,  the  pace  is  fast,  the  crowd's  soon  left  behind, 
A  minute's  check,  a  view  hallo,  and  onward  like  the  wind  ; 
At  rotten  bank  and  yawning  ditch  the  funkers  turn  away  ; 
"  The  best  thing,"  quoth  the  master,  "  we've  had  this  many  a  day," — 
,Oh  my  noble  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay. 


138  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Forty  minutes  now  we've  run,  and  the  best  begin  to  flag, 
Yet  Kitty  still  goes  free  and  fast,  the  sturdy  little  nag  : 
The  ground  is  deep,  the  jumping  big,  yet  still  I  keep  my  place 
Among  the  foremost  riders  in  this  right  glorious  chase. — 
My  noble  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay. 

There  was  more  of  the  same  sort,  but  the  foregoing  is 
probably  quite  enough  for  the  reader,  although  the  Spank- 
aways  and  some  others  were  loud  in  their  plaudits,  and 
demanded  an  encore.  The  song  was  popularly  ascribed  to 
Charlie's  own  muse,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  an  old 
hunting  song  re-touched  and  partly  re-written  by  Olive  and 
himself,  and,  as  they  thought,  greatly  improved. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  139 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

LILLYWHITE  SMELLS  A  RAT. 

During  Mr.  Prince's  absence,  Edward,  as  acting  head  of 
the  firm,  took  possession  of  his  father's  room,  Charlie  mean- 
while occupying  the  room  which  had  been  his  brother's. 
Lillywhite  was  always  first  at  the  office,  generally  entering 
with  the  postman,  from  whom  he  took  the  letters.  After 
carefully  scanning  the  outsides  of  them,  and  forming  shrewd 
guesses  as  to  the  nature  of  their  contents,  he  would  put  the 
firm's  letters  and  Edward's  on  the  latter's  desk  and  Charlie's 
on  his  desk. 

One  morning,  about  a  fortnight  after  the  garden  party,  the 
managing  clerk  came  across  a  letter  with  a  foreign  stamp 
and  the  Geneva  postmark,  addressed  to  Charles  Prince,  Esq. 

"  Geneva — Switzerland — the  Lincolns  are  in  Switzerland 
— a  woman's  handwriting — not  Mrs.  Lincoln's — I  know  it 
as  well  as  my  own — et-go  it  must  be  Miss  Lincoln's,"  muttered 
Lillywhite.  "  I  smell  a  rat,  I  smell  a  rat.  I  have  thought 
for  some  time  that  Edward  was  sweet  in  that  quarter ;  but  if 
Charlie  is  the  favored  swain,  so  much  the  better.  If  he 
wasn't,  would  she  write  him  a  long  letter  like  this  ?  "  (feel- 
ing it  with  his  finger  and  thumb,  and  holding  it  to  the  light). 
"  Not  she,  not  she.  And  a  very  sensible  young  woman  I 
call  her  to  prefer  Charlie  to  his  conceited  jackanapes  of  a 
brother.  This  is  a  new  development.  I  must  watch  it. 
And  now  I'll  put  the  letters  on  their  desks.  They  will  be 
here  presently." 

A  few  minutes  later  Edward  arrived. 

"  My  brother  won't  be  here  for  an  hour  or  two,"  he  said, 
after  greeting  Lillywhite.  "  There  was  a  fire  at  Longmire's 
last  night,  and  he  has  ridden  that  way  to  ascertain  the  extent 
of  the  damage.  (The  Princes  were  agents  to  the  Rhada- 
manthus  Fire  Insurance  Company.) 

Shortly  afterwards  Edward  had  occasion  to  consult  a  law 


I40 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


book,  which  formed  part  of  the  collection  in  his  old  room, 
and  hither  for  that  purpose  he  went,  going  through  the  general 
ofhce.  As  he  passed  Charlie's  desk  he  noticed  the  letter 
which  had  aroused  Lillywhite's  curiosity. 

"  A  foreign  letter  for  Charlie  !  Whom  can  it  be  from  ?  " 
he  thought,  taking  it  up.     "  Olive,  by  Jove." 

There  could  be  no  doubt  about  it.  He  knew  that  the 
Lincolns  were  going  to  Geneva,  and  he  recognized  the  hand- 
writing. Here  was  a  chance  of  ascertaining  the  nature  of 
Charlie's  relations  with  Olive  not  to  be  lost,  all  the  more  so 
as  he  had  almost  persuaded  himself  (the  wish  being  father 
to  the  thought)  that  Olive's  flirtation  with  Coniston  indicated 
a  growing  indifference  to  Charlie. 

So,  slipping  the  letter  into  his  pocket,  he  returned  to  his 
own  room. 

Having  gentlemanly  instincts  and  a  regard  for  the  pro- 
prieties, Edward  Prince  was  fully  alive  to  the  meanness  and 
treachery  of  the  deed  which  he  contemplated.  But  curiosity 
and  jealousy  were  too  much  for  his  scruples.  After  a 
moment's  hesitation  he  wetted  a  sheet  of  thick  blotting-paper, 
placed  it  on  the  back  of  the  letter;  then,  putting  both 
between  two  sheets  of  oiled  paper,  screwed  them  up  in  the 
letter  copying  press. 

In  five  minutes  the  adhesive  matter  of  the  envelope  was 
so  softened  that  the  letter  could  be  opened  without  diffi- 
culty. 

Edward  opened  it,  and  took  out  and  read  the  letter.  It 
began  "  My  dear  Charlie,"  and  as  touching  the  greater  part 
of  it  might  have  been  written  by  a  sister  to  a  brother,  or  by 
one  friend  to  another.  Olive  gave  a  lively  description  of 
their  journey,  of  an  excursion  they  had  made  to  the  Col  de- 
la  Faucille,  of  a  never-to-be-forgotten  "  Tour  of  the  Lake," 
and  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  Cousin  Paul,  who  seemed 
to  have  been  very  amusing.  The  significance  of  the  letter 
and,  for  Edward,  its  sting,  lay  in  its  conclusion.  It  ran 
thus : — 

"  And  now  that  you  have  nobody  to  be  jealous  of,  I  hope 
you  have  ceased  to  worry,  you  foolish  boy.  As  you  know 
that  I  love  you  dearly,  and  shall  never  love  anybody  else,  I 
will  protest  no  more,  except  that  I  am  yours,  and  yours  only, 
Olive." 

Then  there  came  a  P.S.  suggesting  that  Charlie  should 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  141 

write  to  her  at  the  Schweizerhof,  Lucerne,  enclosing  his 
letter  in  an  envelope  addressed  to  Cousin  Paul. 

"  Confound  them  both,"  said  Edward,  dashing  the  letter 
on  the  table.  "  It's  as  I  suspected  at  first ;  they  are  secretly 
engaged,  and  that  cursed  American  cow  catcher  is  a  party  to 
the  fraud.  That  flirtation  was  a  piece  of  make-believe,  and 
I  actually  let  it  take  me  in.  What  shall  I  do  1  Suppress 
the  letter,  and  show  it  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  when  she  comes 
home  ?  " 

But  when  Edward  cooled  down  a  little  he  saw  that  this, 
besides  being  highly  dangerous,  would  do  him  no  good.  It 
was  not  every  day  that  a  foreign  letter  came  to  the  office. 
Lillywhite  had  doubtless  observed  Olive's  missive  and  might 
mention  it  to  Charlie.  Neither  could  he  bring  it  to  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln's knowledge  without  admitting  that  he  had  committed  a 
shabby  action  and  broken  the  law.  So,  reluctantly  ■o^VL^faute 
de  mieux,  he  restored  the  letter  to  the  envelope,  and  return- 
ing to  Charlie's  room  with  the  law  book  under  his  arm,  put 
book  and  letter  where  he  had  found  them. 

As  it  happened,  however,  Lillywhite  had  been  there  a  few 
minutes  previously,  to  place  on  the  table  a  document  which 
concerned  Charlie's  department  of  the  business.  Naturally 
he  missed  the  foreign  letter,  and  as  naturally  concluded  that 
Edward  had  taken  it. 

"  Gone,  by  George  !  "  he  mentally  exclaimed.  "  What's 
his  game,  I  wonder  ?  Does  he  mean  to  keep  it,  or  merely  to 
look  inside  ?  And  what  can  be  his  motive — curiosity,  or 
something  else  ? " 

The  managing  clerk  returned  to  his  desk,  and  while  he  still 
pondered  these  questions  Edward  went  into  Charlie's  room  a 
second  time.     So,  after  a  short  interval,  did  Lillywhite. 

The  letter  was  in  its  place  again. 

Lillywhite  examined  it  deliberately  and  with  deep  interest, 
and  his  practiced  eye,  sharpened  by  suspicion,  told  him  that 
it  had  been  tampered  with.  The  envelope  was  damp,  one  of 
the  edges  slightly  torn,  and  it  appeared  to  have  been  touched 
up  with  fresh  gum. 

"  A  true  bill,"  he  soliloquized.  "  Edward  has  read  it.  He 
is  mad  that  Miss  Lincoln  has  written  to  Charlie  instead  of  to 
him,  and  Avanted  to  know  what  she  said.  It  almost  seems  as 
if  these  brothers  were  rivals.  Well,  I'm  for  Charlie.  He  is 
rather  free  and  easy  sometimes,  but  he  has  always  treated  me 


142  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

with  becoming  respect,  and  I'll  do  my  best  to  forward  his 
views,  if  only  to  spite  the  other." 

At  eleven  o'clock  Charlie  came  in,  fresh  from  his  ride, 
his  hat  slightly  on  one  side,  himself  looking  happy  and 
careless. 

"  Good-morning,  Mr,  Lillywhite,"  he  said  pleasantly.  "  You 
have  heard  of  Longmire's  fire,  I  suppose.  It  does  not  amount 
to  much.  Fifty  pounds  will  cover  the  entire  damage.  I 
don't  think  the  Rhadamanthus  will  consider  it  necessary  to 
send  a  surveyor.  They  will  accept  my  report.  Any  letters 
this  morning  ? " 

"  You  will  find  several  on  your  desk,one  of  them  a  foreigner, 
I  think.     Also " 

But  Charlie  did  not  stay  to  hear  more.  He  whipped  into 
his  room,  shut  the  door,  pounced  on  the  foreigner,  slit  open 
the  envelope  with  his  desk  knife,  and  devoured  Olive's  letter, 
dwelling  ecstatically  on  the  concluding  portion.  He  was  read- 
ing it  a  second  time  when  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door, 
followed  by  Lillywhite. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,"  said  the  clerk,  "but  I  was  just 
about  to  observe,  when  you  left  me,  I  was  just  about  to  ob- 
serve, that  I  had  put  the  draft  brief,  ///  re  Powderley,  on 
your  desk." 

"All  right,  I'll  look  at  it,"  returned  Charlie,  rather  impa- 
tiently. 

"Your  foreigner  is  on  the  floor.  Oh,  it  is  only  the  en- 
velope (picking  it  up).  I  hope  you  have  good  news  of  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  sir." 

"  Mrs.  Lincoln  t " 

"  Yes,  I  see  that  the  envelope  bears  the  Geneva  post-mark, 
and  as  the  Lincolns  are  in  Switzerland  I  thought  you  had 
perhaps  news  of  them." 

In  his  mind  Charlie  characterized  this  observation  as  "  a 
piece  of  cheek,"  but  considering  the  circumstances  and  Lilly- 
white's  age  and  position,  he  answered,  with  a  show  of  indif- 
ference, that  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  quite  well. 

"  And  the  young  lady  ?  " 

"  Is  also  quite  well,"  answered  Charlie,  reddening. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  it.  Miss  Lincoln  is  a  very  nice  young 
lady — to  my  thinking,  one  of  the  nicest  in  these  parts." 

Here  Lillywhite  paused  and  looked  keenly  at  Charlie,  but 
as  the  latter  made  no  sign  he  went  on :  "  Would  you  mind 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  143 

letting  me  have  the  stamp,  sir  ?  I  have  a  nephew  who 
collects  them,  and  this  would  please  the  little  chap  im- 
mensely." 

"  Certainly  ;  let  him  have  it.  I'll  go  through  this  draft  at 
once  and  make  any  emendations  that  may  occur  to  me,  and 
then  you  can  have  a  fair  copy  made.  I  suppose  nobody  has 
been  in  my  room  besides  yourself  this  morning  .-'  " 

"  Only  your  brother,  for  a  volume  of  '  Copeland's  Digest,' 
I  think,  which  he  afterwards  brought  back." 

"  Yes,  most  of  his  law  books  are  here.  An  uncommonly 
useful  book,  'Copeland's  Digest.'  I  say,  Lillywhite,  if  there 
is  another  foreign  letter  for  me,  don't  put  it  on  my  desk  ;  keep 
it  till  I  come." 

"All  right,  sir,  I'll  not  forget.  I  thank  you  for  the  stamp, 
Mr.  Charles,"  and  with  that  the  managing  clerk  pocketed 
the  envelope  and  left  the  room. 

"  He  need  not  have  taken  the  envelope  for  the  sake  of  the 
stamp,"  thought  the  young  fellow  discontentedly,  "but  never 
mind,  it  is  only  the  shadow,  here  is  the  substance  (looking 
fondly  at  the  letter).  I  wonder  whether  Old  Sly  Boots  sus- 
pects anything.  He  looked  very  knowing  when  he  asked 
after  Miss  Lincoln.  However,  that  would  be  better  than  for 
Ned  to  spot  one  of  Olive's  letters.  I  wonder  whether  he  saw 
this  ?  I  don't  think  so.  He  only  came  in  for  a  book.  But  he 
might  another  time.  He  won't  have  the  chance,  though.  Lilly- 
white  will  take  care  of  the  next :  and  he  isn't  a  man  who  talks 
except  to  ask  questions  ....  Dear  Olive!  I  must  read  her 
letter  once  more,  and  then  for  a  grind  at  this  infernal 
brief." 

Meanwhile  "Old  Sly  Boots"  was  mending  his  pens  (he 
always  wrote  with  a  quill)  and  rejoicing  hugely  over  his 
morning's  work.  He  had  scored  again — added  to  his  store 
of  secrets,  and,  as  he  believed,  got  a  hold  over  both  the 
brothers.  Beyond  a  doubt  Charlie  was  carrying  on  an  ama- 
tory correspondence  with  Miss  Lincoln.  He  had  received 
one  letter  and  expected  others,  which  he  did  not  want  any- 
body to  see,  especially  Edward.  If  he  only  knew  that  Edward 
had  read  his  precious  missive  before  he  read  it  himself  !  A 
word  from  him  (Lillywhite)  would  set  the  brothers  by  the  ears, 
and  he  wagged  his  portentous  nose  in  delight  as  he  thought 
of  the  clever  way  in  which  he  had  secured  possession  of  the 
compromising  envelope.     It  might  prove  a  valuable  piece  of 


144  ^-^^  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

evidence.  The  mere  sight  of  it  would  be  enough  to  show 
Edward  that  his  treachery  had  not  passed  unobserved. 

But  "  Old  Sly  Boots  "  knew  how  to  bide  his  time.  Whether 
and  in  what  fashion  he  should  utilize  his  newly-acquired 
knowledge  depended  on  circumstances.  He  hoarded  secrets 
as  misers  hoard  money,  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  possession, 
and  seldom  used  them — save  either  as  a  means  of  capturing 
others,  or,  on  rare  occasions,  to  show  his  power. 

Charlie,  of  course,  answered  his  sweetheart's  letter,  and  the 
correspondence  went  on  until  Captain  Coniston  left  Europe 
for  America,  and  the  ladies  betook  themselves  to  the  Italian 
lakes,  when  Olive,  prescient  and  thoughtful  as  ever,  deemed 
it  expedient  to  put  an  interdict  on  her  lover's  letters  ;  never- 
theless, she  continued  to  write  to  him,  and  her  missives, 
thanks  to  Lillywhite's  watchfulness,  were  received  without 
being  seen  by  anybody  else. 

And  so  the  summer  days  wore  away,  and  the  younger 
Prince,  as  happy  as  they  were  long,  dreamed  of  a  still  brighter 
future;  while  Ned,  nursing  his  wrath  in  silence,  indulged  in 
thoughts  inimical  to  his  brother's  peace,  even  at  times  to  the 
extent  of  hoping  that  Charlie  would  break  his  neck  next 
hunting  season. 

Mrs.  Prince,  happily  unsuspicious  of  her  sons'  rivalry, 
was  gladdened  every  fortnight  by  a  letter  from  her  husband. 
Mr.  Prince  found  the  business  which  took  him  to  Trinidad 
more  complicated  than  he  had  been  led  to  expect,  and  his 
stay  there  was  likely  to  be  longer  than  he  had  originally  an- 
ticipated. For  the  rest,  however,  all  was  well  with  him.  He 
spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  beauty  of  the  island  and 
the  hospitality  of  its  inhabitants.  His  health  left  nothing  to 
be  desired,  and  the  change  and  freedom  from  small  worries 
(which  meant  great  anxieties)  were  doing  him  "  a  power  of 
good."  He  still  hoped  to  be  back  in  time  for  the  October 
cub-hunting,  and  in  the  course  of  a  mail  or  two  would  be  able 
to  say  by  which  packet  he  should  return. 

The  letter  containing  this  information  was  received  early 
in  September,  and  greatly  rejoiced  Mrs.  Prince. 

"  We  shall  have  your  father  back  in  a  month,"  she  said  to 
her  sons. 

"  Hardly.  If  he  lets  us  know  by  the  next  mail  but  one  that 
he  is  leaving  by  the  following  packet,  he  won't  be  here  for 
six  weeks  or  so.     For  my  own  part,  I  do  not  expect  him  until 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  1 45 

about  the  middle  of  October,  which  will  be  just  within  the 
limit  allowed  by  the  insurance  company,"  returned  Edward, 
who  suspected  that  his  father  was  making  the  most  of  his 
holiday  and  could,  if  he  had  liked,  have  got  through  his 
business  in  a  month. 

"  You  always  were  a  kill-joy  ;  I  think  you  make  it  a  rule 
never  to  agree  with  anybody,"  said  his  mother,  rather  resent- 
fully. 

"  If  you  mean  that  I  neither  cherish  illusions  nor  shape 
my  opinions  according  to  my  desires,  you  are  right.  A  lawyer 
has  no  business  to  cherish  illusions." 

"  Well,  perhaps  you  are  right,  dear.  All  the  same,  I  hope 
I  am  not  cherishing  an  illusion  in  believing  that  j^our  father's 
next  letter  will  fix  the  day  of  his  return,  and  that  we  shall 
have  him  with  us  by  the  end  of  the  month." 

Edward  shook  his  head,  and  smiled  dubiously,  and  Mrs. 
Prince,  perceiving  that  he  did  not  agree  with  her,  let  the 
subject  drop. 

The  result  justified  his  scepticism,  albeit  in  a  way  which 
he  little  anticipated.  The  following  mail  brought  no  letter 
whatever,  to  his  mother's  great  disappointment. 

"  What  can  have  happened  }  "  she  said.  "  He  has  never 
missed  writing  before." 

"  Perhaps  he  has  not  missed  writing,  merely  missed  the 
mail.  That  is  a  possible  chance,  and  I  rather  wonder  it  has 
not  happened  before,"  quietly  observed  Edward,  who,  when 
the  ordinary  seemed  to  afford  an  adequate  explanation  for 
aught  obscure,  never  admitted  into  his  calculations  the 
extraordinary. 

"  I  wish  I  could  think  so.  But  how  do  you  know  that  he 
was  not  too  ill  to  write  ?  " 

"  I  don't,  any  more  than  you  know  that  he  was.  But  I 
think  that  if  he  had  been  ill,  at  any  rate  seriously  ill,  we 
should  have  heard.  The  agents  would  have  informed  us. 
To  my  mind  the  wonder  is  that  my  father's  letters  have  come 
so  regularly — so  slight  a  cause  may  make  a  man  to  miss  a 
dispatch — the  carelessness  of  a  clerk,  the  stupidity  of  a  serv- 
ant; and  from  Trinidad  there  are  only  two  dispatches  a 
month,  remember;  miss  a  mail  and  you  lose  a  fortnight." 

"  That  is  true — yet,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  if  all  had 
been  well  with  your  father  we  should  have  had  a  letter  from 

10 


146  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

him  as  usual ;  and  I  shall  be  very  anxious  until  the  next 
mail  comes  in." 

Charlie,  who  was  present,  held  his  peace.  He  did  not 
want  to  discourage  his  mother,  and  his  opinion,  if  he  had  ex- 
pressed it,  would  have  confijmed  her  in  her  fears.  For, 
Edward's  arguments  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  he  had 
an  uneasy  feeling  that  all  was  not  well  with  their  father. 


THE  FKIXCES  OF  PEELE, 


147 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"  EVIL  TIDINGS." 

The  morning-room  at  Holmcroft  was  neither  too  large  to 
be  cozy  nor  so  small  as  to  be  cramped.  The  furniture  was 
substantial  without  looking  heavy ;  two  French  windows 
opened  into  a  beautiful  bit  of  garden,  and  the  oil  paintmgs 
on  the  walls,  the  flowers  on  the  table,  and  a  merry  tire  burn- 
ing in  the  grate  gave  it  a  bright,  homelike  aspect,  which 
made  it  one  of  the  pleasantest  rooms — in  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Prince,  whose  portrait  surveyed  the  scene,  the  very  pleas- 
antest in  the  house. 

Here,  on  a  certain  morning  in  the  latter  half  of  Septem- 
ber, the  members  of  his  family,  whom  he  had  left  at  home, 
are,  having  breakfast.  Edward  is  the  only  one  who  appears 
to  be  eating  with  appetite.  His  manner  is  as  quiet,  his  face 
as  impassive,  as  usual.  But  Mrs.  Prince's  face  is  gray  and 
worn,  and  there  are  dark  circles  round  her  eyes,  as  if  she 
has  passed  a  sleepless  night.  So  tremulous  is  her  hand  that 
she  can  scarcely  pour  out  the  tea,  and  when  her  sons  offer 
her  anything  she  silently  refuses.  Charles  makes  a  show  of 
eating,  but  after  every  mouthful  pauses  and  looks  nervously 
towards  the  door. 

The  letters  nearly  always  come  while  they  are  at  break- 
fast ;  the  West  India  mail  is  due,  and  the  shipping  intelli- 
gence of  the  Times  reports  that  the  Ta7nar  arrived  at  South- 
ampton early  on  the  previous  day.  A  few  minutes  will 
decide  whether  Edward  is  justified  in  his  confidence  or  his 
mother  in  her  fears. 

Presently  there  is  a  knock  at  the  door,  and  a  servant  en- 
ters with  a  tray,  on  which  are  letters  and  a  newspaper  or 
two.  He  passes  the  lady  of  the  house  and  offers  the  tray  to 
her  elder  son. 

"  It  there  nothing  for  me  ?  "  she  demands  in  a  tone  of 
eager  anguish. 

"  No,  madam,  all  for  Mr.  Edward." 


148  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Mrs.  Prince  falls  back  in  her  chair  with  something  like  a 
groan,  and  then,  recovering  herself  and  leaning  forward, 
inquires  whether  the  servant  has  not  made  a  mistake. 

"There  must  be  news  from  father  by  this  mail,"  she  says. 
"  One  of  those  letters " 

"  Has  the  Port-of-Spain  post-mark.  But  the  address  is 
not  in  his  handwriting.  However,  if  the  letter  is  not  from 
him  it  will  tell  us  something  about  him." 

Edward  opens  the  letter  smiling,  but  he  no  sooner  begins 
to  read  it  than  his  countenance  changes  ominously. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  cries  Mrs.  Prince.  "  There  is  something 
wrong,  I  can  see  it  in  your  face." 

"  Father  is  ill,"  he  says  in  a  faltering  voice. 

"  Give  me  the  letter,  let  me  see  it." 

"  Wait  a  minute,  mother,  till  I  have  read  it  through.  I — • 
I  can  scarcely  make  it  out." 

"  Give  it  me,  I  say,"  and  leaning  over  she  snatches  the 
letter  from  his  hand. 

'I'he  first  words  on  which  the  poor  lady's  eyes  light  are 
these : — 

"  7  deeply  regret  to  infor7n  you  that  your  father  is  no  7nore. 
He  died  on  the  thirteenth  instant  from  the  effects  of  a  snake 
biter 

"  Dead  !  Dead  !  Leonard  dead,  and  it  was  I  who  let  him 
go,"  moans  the  stricken  woman,  and  then  sinks  back  in 
a  swoon. 

The  young  men  take  her  in  their  arms,  lay  her  on  the  sofa, 
and  ring  for  help. 

"  Is  it  really  true — is  father "  gasps  Charlie,  who  feels 

as  if  he  were  playing  a  part  in  some  frightful  nightmare. 

"  Too  true.     It  is  terrible.     Read  the  letter." 

"  The  letter,  though  sympathetic,  was  brief.  The  writer 
had  evidently  been  pressed  for  time.  He  told  that  Mr. 
Prince,  while  on  a  yachting  expedition  in  Venezuelan  waters, 
had  been  killed  by  the  bite  of  a  snake.  A  full  account  would 
be  found  in  the  newspapers,  which  the  writer  was  sending 
by  the  present  mail.  The  body  had  been  buried  in  the  Port- 
of-Spain  cemetery.  Further  particulars,  together  with  all  the 
deceased's  papers  and  certificates  of  his  death  and  burial, 
would  follow  by  the  next  opportunity. 

When  Mrs.  Prince  regained  consciousness  her  condition 
was  so  pitiable,  and  she  talked  so  wildly,  that  the  brothers 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


149 


did  not  think  it  would  be  right  to  leave  her  even  for  a  short 
time.  It  was  therefore  agreed  between  them  that  Charlie 
should  stay  with  her  while  Edward  went  to  the  office,  calling 
on  his  way  at  the  Rectory  to  ask  Mrs.  Manners  (the  Rector's 
wife)  to  come  and  keep  their  mother  company. 

Charlie,  although  he  strove  bravely  to  keep  up,  was  so  un- 
done that  he  could  scarcely  speak,  and  in  no  condition  to 
offer  consolation  to  anybody  else.  Besides,  how  could  words, 
mere  words,  mitigate  the  measureless  sorrow  which  had  come 
upon  them  ?  The  dear  father  whom  he  had  so  tenderly  loved, 
who  as  long  as  he  could  remember,  had  been  good  and  kind 
to  him,  his  best  friend  and  faithful  companion  and  counsellor, 
was  gone,  gone  forever.  Never  more  would  he  hear  that 
cheery  voice,  meet  that  kindly  smile,  feel  the  pressure  of  that 
reverend  hand  ;  and,  as  the  poor  lad  looked  up  with  tear-be- 
dimmed  eyes  at  his  father's  portrait,  it  seemed  to  him  as  if 
all  the  gladness  were  gone  out  of  his  life  and  he  should  never 
know  happiness  again. 

And  the  manner  of  his  father's  end  increased  the  sharpness 
of  his  own  grief.  The  thought  that  he  had  died  a  terrible  and 
painful  death  in  a  strange  land  made  Charlie  almost  frantic. 
He  wanted  to  know  more,  to  know  all,  and,  when  Mrs.  Man- 
ners came  and  took  his  place  by  his  mother's  side,  he  opened 
one  of  the  papers  (Edward  had  taken  the  other)  and  read  the 
account  mentioned  in  the  letter. 

It  appeared  that  towards  the  end  of  August,  being  about  a 
month  before  the  time  which  he  had  fixed  for  his  departure 
from  the  island,  Mr.  Prince  accepted  an  invitation  from  sev- 
eral of  his  friends  to  join  them  in  a  short  cruise  in  the  Bay 
of  Paria,  in  a  hired  steam-yacht.  It  was  to  be  a  sort  of  ma- 
rine picnic.  The  day  was  fine,  the  air  balmy,  and  there  was 
barely  enough  wind  to  ripple  the  surface  of  the  tideless  sea, 
which  Columbus,  or  his  successors,  christened  the  Gulf  of 
Sadness.  The  party  included  a  fair  proportion  of  ladies ; 
there  was  music  on  board,  and  for  a  while  all  went  as  merry 
as  a  marriage  bell. 

After  skirting  the  north-eastern  coast  of  Trinidad,  touching 
at  Goose  Island,  and  looking  at  the  Bocas,  the  yacht  was 
steered  for  the  Spanish  INIain,  the  idea  being  to  "  let  go  "  in 
an  inlet  known  as  Chachacara  Bay,  and  afford  any  who  were 
so  minded  an  opportunity  of  landing  and  spending  an  hour  on 
Venezuelan  soil.     Three  or  four  of  the  party,  however,  among 


15° 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


whom  was  Mr.  Prince,  having  their  lives  insured  under  con- 
ditions which  precluded  them  from  landing  on  the  continent, 
stayed  where  they  were. 

But  owing  to  some  mismanagement — probably  neglect  of 
sounding,  for  the  bay  was  not  buoyed— the  steamer  ran  on  a 
mudbank,  stuck  there  and  heeled  over.  She  did  not  appear 
to  be  any  the  worse,  and  so  long  as  the  sea  remained  smooth 
was  in  no  danger  ;  yet  as  the  wind  might  get  up  before  morn- 
ing and  the  position  of  the  steamer  rendered  staying  on  board 
at  night  very  uncomfortable,  if  not  altogether  impossible,  the 
passengers,  on  the  advice  of  the  captain,  went  ashore.  Mean- 
while, a  falucha,  then  lying  at  anchor  in  the  bay,  was  de- 
spatched to  Port-of-Spain  for  a  tug,  which,  as  the  captain 
thought,  would  get  the  yacht  off  without  difficulty.  But  the 
wind  being  contrary  for  the  falucha,  the  tug  was  not  likely  to 
arrive  before  noon  on  the  following  day. 

There  was  very  little  to  see  ashore — a  few  fishermen's  huts 
— roofs  on  stilts — a  plantation  owned  by  a  coatless  peasant 
(who  called  himself  Senor  Don  Ramon  Estramadure,  and 
politely  placed  all  his  possessions  at  the  disposal  of  his  unin- 
vited guests),  and  a  background  of  primeval  forest. 

Bedding  was  got  ashore,  hammocks  were  slung  in  Don 
Ramon's /^z//^  and  elsewhere,  and  the  excursionists,  fanned 
by  a  gentle  breeze,  which  cooled  the  air  and  dispersed  the 
mosquitoes,  passed  a  pleasanter  night  than  might  have  been 
expected. 

At  daybreak  most  of  the  men  set  off  to  bathe  in  a  fresh- 
water creek,  which  Don  Ramon  had  pointed  out  to  them,  and 
where,  as  he  assured  them,  there  were  no  alligators.  Indeed, 
according  to  his  account,  the  place  enjoyed  a  complete  im- 
munity from  what  the  Spaniards  c^SS.plaga — meaning  thereby 
noxious  creatures  generally. 

The  part  of  the  creek  chosen  for  the  bath  was  secluded 
and  picturesque,  overshadowed  by  trees,  but  close  to  an  ugly 
bit  of  swamp,  which  one  of  the  party  protested  that  he  would 
not  cross  for  a  thousand  dollars  in  gold. 

After  swimming  and  splashing  about  in  the  creek  for  some 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  Mr.  Prince  landed  at  a  spot  a  few  yards 
from  the  point  where  he  had  left  his  clothes.  On  his  way 
thither  he  was  seen  to  step  on  what  at  first  sight  seemed  to 
be  a  log  of  wood.  But  quick  as  lightning  the  log  up-reared 
an  evil-looking  head  and  fastened  on  Mr.  Prince's  leg. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  151 

In  his  surprise  and  horror  Mr.  Prince  screamed,  and  one 
of  his  companions — the  same  who  had  said  he  would  not 
cross  tlie  swamp  for  a  thousand  dollars  in  gold — ran  to  him 
just  as  the  snake,  loosing  its  hold,  glided  away. 

"  My  God  !  A  water  moccasin,"  he  exclaimed. 

"  Is  it  dangerous  ? "  asked  Mr.  Prince.  "  It  felt  like  red 
hot  needles,  but  the  wound  does  not  seem  much." 

It  was  hardly  perceptible,  indeed.  Only  two  slight  punc- 
tures, from  which  two  drops  of  blood  were  slowly  oozing. 

"  Dangerous !  Come  here,  Masters.  Quick,  come  at 
once  !  " 

Masters  was  one  of  the  party  and  a  surgeon.  He  came 
running. 

"  Mr.  Prince  has  been  bitten  by  a  water  mocassin." 

The  doctor  turned  pale. 

"  A  water  mocassin.     Are  you  sure  .''  " 

"  Quite.  I  know  them  only  too  well.  I  have  seen  scores. 
And  that  swamp  is  just  the  place  for  them.  What  is  to  be 
done } " 

"  If  I  had  my  pocket-case  with  me  I  would  cut  the  piece 
out  right  away.  There  is  only  one  chance.  We  must  try 
and  suck  the  poison  out." 

"  The  bite  is  dangerous,  then  ?  "  said  Mr.  Prince. 

"  It  is.  I  could  not  say  otherwise  without  telling  you  a  lie. 
The  water  mocassin  is  one  of  the  most  venomous  snakes 
known  ;  but  we  may  perhaps  succeed  in  sucking  out  the 
poison.  Lie  down,  please.  Fetch  Mr.  Prince's  clothes, 
Power,  and  one  of  you  go  at  once  to  the  steamer  for  my 
pocket-case.  Bring  also  brandy — and  the  captain  has  some 
medicines,  I  think.  If  he  has  any  laudanum,  or  morphia,  or 
chloroform,  bring  them  too." 

And  then  Dr.  Masters  began  to  suck  the  wound.  Power 
and  the  others  occasionally  relieving  him.  When  the  brandy 
and  the  laudanum  came  he  gave  the  patient  strong  doses  of 
both. 

These  measures,  though  they  may  conceivably  have  pro- 
longed the  span  of  Mr.  Prince's  life  for  a  few  hours,  did  not, 
unhappily,  suffice  to  save  it. 

When  the  steam-tug  arrived  they  carried  him  on  board  the 
yacht,  and  there,  shortly  before  sunset,  he  died. 

At  the  outset  he  suffered  much,  but  whether  from  the 
effects  of  the  venom  or  the  brandy  and  laudanum,  or  all  three 


152 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


combined,  he  presently  sank  into  a  state  of  semi-conscious- 
ness, and  at  the  last  appeared  to  be  entirely  free  from 
pain. 

On  the  following  day  his  body  was  laid  in  the  Port-of-Spain 
cemetery. 

The  writer  of  the  account  had  obviously  personal  knowledge 
of  the  events  which  he  described,  and  the  editor  of  the  paper, 
in  bringing  it  to  the  notice  of  his  readers,  observed  that  the 
catastrophe  had  caused  a  most  painful  sensation  in  Port-of- 
Spain,  where  during  his  short  sojourn  Mr.  Prince  had  made 
for  himself  many  friends  and  gained  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  all  with  whom  he  had  come  in  contact. 

When  Charlie  had  ended  his  reading  he  consulted  Mrs. 
Manners  as  to  the  expediency  of  showing  the  account  to  his 
mother.  He  thought  it  might  rouse  her  from  the  tearless 
apathy  into  which  she  had  fallen.  Mrs.  Manners  agreed  with 
him,  and  handing  her  friend  the  paper,  pointed  out  the  por- 
tentous headlines  : 

"  A  Terrible  Fatality. 
"  The  Death  of  Mr.  Leonard  Prince." 

Mrs.  Prince  took  the  paper  and  read  the  account,  read  it 
again  and  again,  weeping. 

"  Oh,  God,"  she  murmured,  "  that  he  should  die  thus,  away 
from  us  all,  without  a  word  of  farewell,  and  be  laid  in  a  grave 
I  can  never  see.     Why  did  I  let  him  go  !     Why  did  I  let  him 


go 


In  truth,  Mrs.  Prince  was  suffering  from  stings  of  con- 
science as  well  as  from  grief  for  the  loss  of  her  husband.  She 
saw  now,  as  she  might  have  seen  before,  had  she  not  wilfully 
shut  her  eyes,  how  the  breach  of  trust  which  he  had  com- 
mitted, mainly  at  her  instance,  had  weighed  on  his  mind  and 
embittered  his  life.  She  allowed  him  to  go  to  Trinidad, 
against  her  better  judgment,  for  money.  Or,  to  put  the  mat- 
ter more  accurately,  she  would  have  used  her  influence  to 
prevent  him  going  if  money  had  not  been  needed  ;  and  the 
need  was  created  by  that  first  fatal  step  which  she  had  per- 
suaded him  to  adopt. 

Yet  when  she  was  somewhat  recovered  from  the  shock  and 
could  think  calmly,  it  was  not   difficult   to   convince   herself 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  153 

that  she  had  acted  for  the  best.  Nobody  could  have  fore- 
seen the  fatal  issue  of  the  enterprise.  Leonard  himself  was 
eager  to  go,  and  everybody  thought  that  the  voyage  out  and 
home  would  do  him  good.  Yes,  she  had  acted  for  the  best, 
and  terrible  as  was  the  blow  it  had  its  compensations. 

Her  dear  husband  had  not  died  in  vain.  The  insurance 
money  would  make  good  the  misappropriation,  and  the  world 
would  never  know  that  her  eldest  son  was  a  thief  and  her 
husband  a  defaulter.  True,  the  rest  of  her  life  would  be  an 
abiding  sorrow ;  but  Leonard  Prince's  memory  would  be 
honored  in  the  place  where  he  was  born,  and  Edward  and 
Charles  could  look  their  neighbors  in  the  face  without 
shame. 

This  was  the  way  in  which  Mrs.  Prince  looked  on  her  hus- 
band's death  after  some  days,  when  the  stress  of  her  grief 
was  beginning  to  abate. 

And  Edward,  though  neither  a  man  of  strong  affections 
nor  noble  nature,  was  as  much  affected  by  the  terrible  news 
as  his  mother  and  his  brother.  His  father's  tragic  death 
gave  him  intense  pain,  and  for  awhile,  albeit  he  had  press- 
ing affairs  on  hand,  he  could  think  of  naught  else.  But  this 
was  not  for  long.  The  sun  had  hardly  gone  down  on  his 
grief  before  he  said  to  himself  that,  regarded  as  an  incident, 
his  father's  death  was  by  no  means  a  misfortune  u-ithout 
alloy. 

The  next  day  he  said  to  himself  that  it  was  a  very  good 
thing,  and  before  long  Edward  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened — in  his 
own  interest  and  that  of  the  family. 

He  would  step  into  his  father's  shoes,  become  the  head  of 
the  firm,  and  for  several  years  to  come  take  the  lion's  share 
of  the  profits.  It  was,  moreover,  an  immense  relief  to  know 
that  the  family  skeleton  had  been  buried  in  his  father's  grave. 
The  insurance  money  would  put  right  that  awkward  matter 
of  Mrs.  Lincolns  trust,  and  the  annual  premiums,  if  he  de- 
cided to  continue  the  policy  in  Charlie's  name  and  his  own, 
might  be  greatly  reduced. 

And  he  could  not  help  thinking  that  his  accession  of  for- 
tune, and  the  importance  he  should  derive  from  being  head 
of  the  firm  and  boss  of  Peele  (as  he  fully  intended  to  be) 
would  influence  Olive  in  his  favor,  and  induce  her  to  cease 
her  philandering   with  Charlie.     She  was  a  girl  who   valued 


154  ^^^  PRIiVCES  OF  PEELE. 

position  ;  and  by  the  time  slie  was  free  to  marry  he  should 
be  able  to  offer  her  a  position  which  she  would  not  disdain. 
For  Edward  believed  that  he  could  greatly  increase  the  al- 
ready considerable  profits  of  the  office,  and  in  dreams  saw 
himself  M.P.  for  the  borough,  and  a  man  of  mark  in  the 
county. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  155 


CHAPTER     XX. 

AN    UNPLEASANT    SURPRISE. 

Three  or  four  days  after  receivins;  tidings  of  his  father's 
death  Edward  read  the  will  to  his  mother  and  brother. 

The  testator  appointed  his  wife  and  his  son  Edward  as  his 
sole  executors  and  trustees.  The  business,  subject  to  the 
payment  of  five  hundred  a  year  to  the  widow  during  her  life- 
time, was  left  to  Edward  and  Charles  in  the  proportion  of 
two-thirds  to  the  former  and  one  third  to  the  latter,  until  the 
younger  should  attain  his  twenty-sixth  year,  w'hen  he  would 
take  an  equal  share  with  Edward.  Mrs.  Prince  was  to  remain 
in  possession  of  Holmcroft,  and  have  the  use  of  the  furniture 
in  common  with  her  two  sons.  After  her  death  the  house 
and  its  contents  were  to  be  offered  to  the  elder  of  them  at  a 
fair  valuation  ;  if  he  declined  the  offer,  then  to  the  younger. 
In  the  event  of  both  of  them  declining  to  purchase  the  prop- 
ert}^,  it  was  to  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  divided  equally  between  them.  The  personalty 
was  also  to  be  equally  divided,  except  the  carriage-horses 
and  the  carriages,  which  were  left  to  Mrs.  Prince.  All  the 
other  horses  were  left  to  Charlie. 

Jack's  name  was  not  mentioned.  Nor  was  there  any  allu- 
sion to  the  secret. 

The  will  having  been  executed  several  years  previously, 
when  Charlie  was  under  age,  he  took  his  exclusion  from  the 
executorship  as  a  matter  of  course.  Moreover,  two  executors 
were  quite  enough,  and  he  had  full  confidence  that  Edward, 
with  whom  his  relations  were  now  as  seemingly  fraternal  as 
they  had  ever  been,  would  administer  the  estate  honestly 
and  well. 

"  How  much  was  father's  life  insured  for  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Fifteen  thousand  pounds.  We  are  all  in  the  same  policy, 
you  know  ;  and  if  either  of  us  was  to  die  the  same  amount 
would  be  payable  to  the  surviving  member  of  the  firm." 


136  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  How  good  of  father  to  make  so  great  a  sacrifice  for  our 
benefit !  He  must  have  paid  two  or  three  thousand  pounds 
in  premiums.     We  shall  be  quite  rich." 

"Yes,"  said  Edward  dryly,  "we  shall  not  be  badly  off. 
Your  third  share  will  make  more  than  a  thousand  a  year, 
nett." 

"  I  would  give  it  all,  give  everything,  if  we  could  have  him 
back  for  one  short  hour,"  exclaimed  the  young  fellow  pas- 
sionately, and  then,  too  full  to  say  more,  left  the  room. 

"  Shall  we  tell  him  now  or  not } "  asked  Edward  of  his 
mother  deferentially. 

He  did  not  say  whom  or  what,  but  Mrs.  Prince  understood 
him  perfectly. 

"  We  will  tell  him  neither  now  nor  at  any  other  time," 
she  answered  emphatically,  though  her  voice  was  low  and 
troubled.     "  Why  should  we  ?     What  would  be  the  good  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  exactly  the  question,  mother.  We  must  tell 
him,  sooner  or  later." 

"  But  why  ? " 

"  Don't  you  see  ?  He  is  a  beneficiary,  and  we  shall  have 
to  account  to  him  for  his  share  of  the  fifteen  thousand 
pounds  we  are  going  to  receive  from  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany. Suppose  he  asks  how  I  am  going  to  invest  it  ?  It 
will  be  quite  within  his  right." 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  Mrs.  Prince,  and  it  evidently  caused 
her  great  annoyance.  She  made  an  impatient  gesture,  and 
before  answering  thought  deeply  for  several  minutes. 

"  You  say  he  must  know  sooner  or  later,"  she  said  at 
length,  "  let  it  be  later  then.  If  poor  father  had  wanted  him 
to  know  he  would  have  told  him,  and  we  must  respect  father's 
wishes.  It  is  a  duty,  a  sacred  duty.  Besides,  I  don't  want 
him  to  know," 

"  But  what  shall  I  say  if  he  asks  how  I  am  disposing  of 
the  money  ? " 

"  Say  you  are  investing  it  in  Consols.  You  will  have  to 
do,  won't  you?     Mrs.  Lincoln's  fortune  was  in  Consols." 

"  So  far  you  are  quite  right,  and  the  expedient  might  an- 
swer for  a  while.  But  he  must  know,  eventually,  and  to  tell 
the  truth,  mother,  I  don't  like  taking  the  responsibility  of 
keeping  it  from  him,"  said  Edward  uneasily.  He  feared  that 
by  letting  Charlie  think  the  insurance  money  was  available 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


157 


for  distribution  he  might  at  some  future  time  have  it  in  his 
power  to  demand  payment  in  full  of  his  share  therein.  As 
Edward  had  often  told  his  clients,  the  path  of  trustees  is  be- 
set with  snares  and  pitfalls,  and  they  cannot  be  too  careful. 

"  I  will  take  the  responsibility.  When  I  am  gone — and  I 
do  not  think  I  shall  long  survive  this  fearful  trial — when  I 
am  gone  you  can  please  yourself.  But  for  the  present,  at 
least,  Charles  must  not  know.  You  will  not  tell  him,  Edward, 
without  permission.     Promise  me." 

Mrs.  Prince  generally  got  her  way,  and  Edward,  feeling 
that  it  would  be  unseemly — at  any  rate  just  then — to  set  his 
mother  at  defiance,  gave  the  required  promise,  albeit  reluc- 
tantly and  with  a  bad  grace. 

"  I  have  my  reasons,"  she  said. 

He  guessed  as  much,  and  having  a  shrewd  idea  what  they 
were  felt  all  the  more  vexed,  for  Edward  had  no  sympathy 
with  sentiment  when  it  conflicted  with  common-sense. 
Charlie  had  been  Mr.  Prince's  favorite,  and  he  Charlie's 
model  and  faultless  exemplar,  and  the  mother  shrank  almost 
with  horror  from  letting  the  lad  know  that  his  father  had 
made  free  with  Mrs.  Lincoln's  fortune.  He  might  not  see, 
as  she  did,  that  in  this  instance  at  least  the  end  justified  the 
means.  It  would  be  quite  time  enough  to  tell  him — if  he 
must  be  told — when  the  new  trustees  had  been  appointed 
and  the  defalcation  made  good.  The  wrong — the  unavoid- 
able wrong,  as  she  put  it  to  herself — would  then  be  redressed, 
and  nobody,  much  less  Charlie,  would  have  any  right  to  com- 
plain. 

The  day  after  the  reading  of  the  will  Edward  informed  the 
Insurance  Company  of  his  father's  decease,  at  the  same  time 
intimating  that  on  receipt  of  the  certificate  of  death  from 
Trinidad  he  should  prove  the  will  and  make  a  formal  claim 
for  the  amount  payable  under  the  late  Mr.  Prince's  life 
policy. 

The  Company's  Secretary  "  had  the  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  the  letter  and  awaited  his  correspondent's  fur- 
ther communication,"  which  he  assured  him,  would  have  the 
prompt  attention  of  his  Directors. 

"  That's  all  right,"  thought  Edward,  as  he  docketed  and  filed 
the  Secretary's  letter.  "  Payment  is  due  three  months  after 
notification  of  decease  ;  but  it's  a  rich  Company  and  I  have 
no  doubt  will  settle  on  production  of  the  probate.     That's  the 


158  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

good  of  dealing  with  a  first-class  firm.  Rather  a  pity,  though, 
that  the  premium  was  paid  only  last  month.  If  it  had  fallen 
due  this  month  or  next  we  should  have  saved  ;^5oo.  How- 
ever, we  cannot  have  it  every  way,  ...  I  think  we  had 
better  continue  the  policy  on  our  joint  lives.  Charlie  is  sure 
to  break  his  neck  one  of  these  days,  and  fifteen  thousand  and 
nothing  to  pay  out  of  it  would  be  a  fine  haul." 

The  news  of  Mr.  Prince's  death  caused  an  even  more  pain- 
ful sensation  in  Peele  than  it  had  caused  in  Port-of-Spain. 
As  the  local  paper  observed,  it  cast  quite  a  gloom  over  the 
town.  Everybody  of  note  in  the  neighborhood  left  cards 
at  Holmcroft,  and  Mrs.  Prince  received  so  many  letters  of 
condolence  that  she  was  obliged  to  answer  them  by  litho- 
graphed circulars. 

The  Town  Council  held  a  special  meeting,  at  which  an  ad- 
dress of  condolence  to  the  widow  and  family  was  unanimously 
adopted,  and  a  resolution  taken  to  place  a  marble  bust  of 
their  late  colleague  in  the  vestibule  of  the  Town  Hall.  The 
local  justices  adopted  a  similar  address,  and  the  County 
Court  Judge  delivered  from  the  bench  an  eloquent  eulogium 
on  the  deceased  gentleman  and  expressed  the  warmest  sym- 
pathy with  his  family  in  their  bereavement. 

The  theme  of  the  addresses  and  of  the  speeches  by  which 
they  were  supported  was  the  late  Mr.  Prince's  public  spirit, 
unfailing  urbanity  and  unswerving  integrity.  Above  all,  his 
integrity. 

"  Although  for  forty  years  member  of  a  profession  which 
affords  more  scope  for  equivocal  practices  than  any  other, 
and  is  popularly  yet  erroneously  supposed  to  be  incompatible 
with  high  honor  and  fair  dealing,  nobody  has  ever  ventured 
to  question  Mr.  Prince's  honesty  and  straightforwardness. 
His  best  epitaph  will  be  that  he  never  took  up  a  question- 
able case  or  engaged  in  a  transaction  that  would  not  bear  the 
light."     Thus  the  Judge. 

All  this  was  very  pleasing  to  Mrs.  Prince,  and  made  her 
bereavement  more  tolerable.  But  it  suggested  a  possibility 
which,  when  she  thought  of  it,  terrified  her  beyond  measure, 

"  If  they  should  get  to  know,"  she  said  to  Edward. 

"  They  won't  get  to  know,  mother.  There  is  less  likeli- 
hood of  their  getting  to  know  than  ever  there  was.  In  a 
month  or  so  I  shall  draw  the  insurance  money,  and  put  the 
right  amount   in  Consols,   in  our  joint  names,  as  trustees 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  159 

under  the  will  of  the  late  Leonard  Prince,  Then  we  shall 
be  as  safe  as  houses." 

"  But  doesn't  Lillywhite  know  ?" 

"  He  only  guesses.  And  if  he  were  to  say  anything,  no- 
body would  believe  him.  1  should  only  have  to  open  the  safe 
and  show  the  certificates  to  convict  Lilh'white  of  a  base  slan- 
der. Besides,  he  is  very  much  cut  up  about  father's  death ; 
and  to  do  him  justice,  1  do  not  think  he  has  the  least  desire 
to  play  the  traitor.  "  What  would  it  profit  him  } " 

l^Irs.  Prince  gave  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"  Well,  get  the  money  and  buy  the  Consols  as  soon  as  ever 
you  can,  dear,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  be  on  pins  till  you  do." 

A  few  days  afterwards  Mrs.  Prince  received  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  was  at  Pallanza.  She  had  read  an  account 
of  Mr.  Prince's  death  in  the  Times,  quoted  by  that  paper  from 
a  Trinidad  contemporary.  She  could  not  have  been  more 
shocked  and  distressed,  she  said,  had  Mr.  Prince  been  her 
own  brother,  and  warmly  sympathized  with  Mrs.  Prince  in 
the  grievous  misfortune  which  had  befallen  her,  all  the  more, 
as  it  was  a  grievous  misfortune  for  herself.  Since  her  own 
husband's  death  Mr.  Prince  had  been  her  best  friend  ;  she 
was  under  the  greatest  obligation  to  him  for  acting  as  her 
trustee  and  discharging  the  duties  of  the  office  so  faithfully 
and  well.  She  presumed  she  would  now  have  to  find  another 
trustee — perhaps  two — but  as  to  this  she  would  confer  with 
Edward  on  her  return  to  All  Hallows. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  observed  further  that  she  doubted  whether 
she  should  remain  at  All  Hallows  during  the  coming  winter. 
It  was  an  expensive  place  to  keep  up  and  the  chancery  suit 
had  made  serious  inroads  on  her  income.  She  felt  disposed 
to  take  a  house  on  the  coast,  within  easy  reach  of  London. 
But  of  this  more  w^hen  they  met ;  she  expected  to  be  at  All 
Hallows  for  a  few  days  in  the  course  of  the  following 
month. 

"  That  means,"  said  Mrs.  Prince,  reflectively,  after  Edward 
had  read  the  letter,  ''  that  means  she  has  made  up  her  mind 
to  leave  All  Hallows." 

"  It  certainly  looks  so." 

"  I  shall  be  very  sorry.  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  a  pleasant  neigh- 
bor and  a  kind  friend — and  you  would  not  have  nearly  so 
many  opportunities  of  meeting  Olive." 

"If  I  remain  Mrs.  Lincoln's   legal   adviser,  and  I  think  I 


i6o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

shall,  and  if  this  chancery  suit  goes  on — and  I  am  sure  it 
will — I  shall  meet  Olive  pretty  often." 

"  And  Charlie  will  meet  her  very  seldom,"  he  thought.  "  It 
is  a  most  excellent  idea,  and  I  hope  Mrs.  Lincoln  will  carry 
it  into  effect." 

"  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  she  may  make  you  her 
trustee  ? " 

"  It  has,  and  I  trust  she  will — one  of  them.  That  will 
keep  the  business  in  the  office." 

"  Need  she  appoint  two  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  law  compelling  her  to  do  so ;  but  you  may 
depend  on  it  that  she  will." 

"  Why  >.  " 

"  Because  it  is  the  right  thing  to  do,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln 
knows  it.  She  appointed  two  in  the  first  instance,  and  only 
refrained  from  appointing  a  successor  to  Wilmot  because  of 
her  unbounded  confidence  in  father.  She  cannot  be  expected 
to  have  the  same  confidence  in  me — yet." 

"  Well,  I  hope  she  will  provide  you  with  a  pleasant  col- 
league, dear." 

"  I  hope  so.  One  who  will  sign  whatever  I  put  before  him, 
without  reading  it,  and  never  bother  his  co-trustee  with  idle 
questions." 

The  same  post  that  brought  Mrs.  Prince  the  letter  from 
Mrs.  Lincoln  brought  Charlie  a  letter  from  Olive,  full  of  deep 
feeling  and  expressing  the  warmest  sympathy  and  love.  It 
must  be  terrible  to  lose  such  a  father  as  his  had  been,  she 
said,  and  her  heart  bled  for  him  ;  indeed,  it  did.  His  sorrow, 
was  her  sorrow,  his  loss  her  loss,  not  only  because  she  felt  for 
him  and  with  him,  but  because  she  had  loved  and  honored 
Mr.  Prince  more  than  she  could  tell.  He  was  one  of  the 
best  and  sunniest  men  she  had  ever  known.  It  was  a  great 
blessing  to  have  had  so  good  a  father,  and  she  counted  it 
as  a  priceless  privilege  to  have  had  such  a  friend. 

And  then  Olive  went  on  to  speak  of  themselves,  mentioning 
the  probability  of  her  mother  giving  up  All  Hallows,  and  re- 
gretting the  concealment  they  were  obliged  to  practice.  But 
she  held  out  a  hope  that  when  the  time  of  mourning  for  his 
father  was  past,  her  mother  might  be  prevailed  upon  to  sanc- 
tion an  informal  engagement,  an  engagement,  that  was  to 
say,  not  to  be  made  public  until  Olive  came  of  age. 

Charlie  read  this  letter  with  mingled   feelings.     It   gave 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.         '  i6i 

him  a  strange  sense  of  sweet  pain.  Olive's  appreciation  of  his 
father's  noble  qualities,  the  assurance  of  her  sympathy  and 
love  were  unspeakably  grateful  to  him.  But  the  thoughts  her 
words  suggested  and  the  consciousness  of  the  irreparable  loss 
which  he  had  sustained  wrung  his  heart  with  anguish.  With 
his  father  gone  and  All  Hallows  empty,  Peele  would  be  like 
a  strange  land.  The  dear  old  days,  so  full  of  pleasure  and 
enjoyment,  when  the  present  had  no  sorrows  and  the  future 
no  terrors,  were  gone  forever.  Fair  as  were  his  prospects, 
and  albeit  he  had  come  into  a  goodly  heritage,  and  Olive 
was  loving  and  true,  he  was  still  cast  down ;  and  at  times  he 
had  a  vague  foreboding  that  his  father's  death  would  prove 
the  harbinger  of  further  misfortunes,  as  well  for  himself  as 
for  others. 

But  only  at  times,  for  he  was  too  busy  for  much  brooding. 
It  almost  seemed  as  if  Mr.  Prince's  demise  had  created 
business.  It  poured  in  from  every  side,  and  Charlie  got  his  full 
share  of  it.  Then  the  books  had  to  be  balanced,  and  other 
preparations  made  for  proving  the  will.  At  the  same  time, 
Edward  was  making  interest  to  obtain  the  public  appointments 
so  long  held  by  his  father.  The  brothers  had  already  received 
a  kind  letter  from  Lord  Hermitage,  in  which  he  spoke  in  high 
terms  of  the  late  Mr.  Prince,  and  requested  them  to  act  as 
his  agents  on  the  old  terms. 

The  papers  from  Trinidad  did  not  come  quite  so  soon  as 
Edward  had  expected,  but  within  a  few  days  of  their  arrival  he 
and  his  mother  paid  the  succession  duty  and  proved  the  will. 

"When  will  you  write  to  the  insurance  company?"  asked 
Mrs.  Prince,  when  the  transaction  was  completed. 

"  This  very  day  ;  I  have  only  been  waiting  for  the  probate, 
which  I  shall  of  course  let  them  see." 

"  And  how  soon  are  you  likely  to  get  the  money  ?  " 

"  In  a  few  days.  The  directors  meet  on  Tuesday,  I  think, 
and  as  everything  is  in  order  I  don't  see  why  they  should 
not  send  us  a  check  at  once.  The  .^gis  make  a  specialty 
of  prompt  settlements." 

"  That  is  well.  What  a  relief  it  will  be !  Before  your 
father  died  it  did  not  trouble  me  much.  But  now,  I  know 
how  much  he  must  have  suffered." 

On  the  Wednesday  next  after  this  conversation  Edward 
found  on  his  table  a  bulky  packet,  bearing  the  seal  of  the 
^Egis  Life  Assurance  Office. 


1 62  THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 

"They  have  returned  the  probate,"  he  said  to  himself; 

"  and  sent    a  check,  I  wonder  ?     If  they  have  not  I  will 

offer   to    allow   them   two   months'    interest    at   bank   rate. 

Mother  worries  so,  and  I  want  to  get  the  confounded  thing 

off  my  mind."    (Opening  the  packet.) 

"  A  letter — of  course — but  no  check.  .  .  .  What — why 
— they — villains,  idiots — what  do  they  mean  ?  "  and  Edward 
Prince,  after  turning  as  pale  as  if  he  had  seen  a  ghost, 
reddened  with  rage  and  dashed  the  letter  on  the  floor. 

Then  he  picked  it  up  and  read  it  again.  Thus  the 
portentous  missive  ran  : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  am  instructed  by  my  directors  to  inform 
you  that  as  facts  have  come  to  their  knowledge  which  lead 
them  to  believe  that  Mr.  Leonard  Prince  did  not  observe 
the  conditions  of  his  license,  they  are  unable  to  make  any 
payment  in  respect  of  his  joint  policy  (No.  43,751). 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith  the  probate  of  your 
late  father's  will,  the  receipt  of  which  be  good  enough  to 
acknowledge, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  Myles  Cutter,  Sec." 


THE  FRINGES  OF  FEELE. 


163 


CHAPTER  XXII 

E  D  W  A  R  D'  S    DILEMMA, 

The  refusal  of  the  insurance  company  to  comply  with  his 
demand  was  a  greater  shock  to  Edward  than  his  father's 
death.  The  latter  event,  though  it  befell  so  suddenly  and 
tragically,  was  at  least  in  the  course  of  nature.  It  had  been 
foreseen,  and,  in  a  sense,  provided  for. 

But  that  an  office  like  the  ^gis  should  decline  to  pay  up 
was  an  undreamt  of  contingency,  a  bolt  from  the  blue, 
and  Edward  was  so  fiercely  indignant  at  what  he  deemed  the 
company's  flagrant  dishonesty,  and  so  sick  with  disappoint- 
ment, as  to  be  rendered  for  a  while  unfit  to  consider  the 
matter  fairly. 

"  My  directors  declined  to  pay,  do  they  ? "  he  muttered. 
"Well  I'll  make  them  pay,  then.  I'll  sue  them;  I'll  expose 
them,  I'll  smash  them.  Haven't  we  paid  the  premiums 
regularly  all  the  time  .''  Didn't  I  get  a  license  and  pay  for 
it .''  .  .  It's  fearfully  awkward.  What  will  my  mother  say, 
and  what  shall  we  do  about  the  broken  trust .''  Mrs.  Lincoln 
will  be  here  in  a  fortnight,  and  if  she  appoints  new  trustees 
before  I  get  the  money  out  of  these  rascals — that  would  be 
ruin.  But  I  must  get  it ;  there  is  no  other  word  for  it — 
must,  must.  .  .  From  facts  that  have  come  to  their  knowl- 
edge they  have  reason  to  believe  that  father  did  not  observe 
the  conditions  of  his  license.  By  going  ashore  when  the 
steamer  went  aground,  I  suppose.  They  have  seen  the 
account  in  the  papers.  They  argue  that  if  he  had  not  landed 
he  would  not  have  been  bitten  by  the  snake.  But  he  was 
obliged  to  land  ;  if  he  had  stayed  on  board  and  it  had  come 
on  to  blow  he  might  have  been  drowned.  He  acted  for  the 
best.  He  could  not  prudently  have  done  otherwise.  .  .  . 
No  !  There  is  nothing  in  it.  It's  just  a  miserable  attempt 
at  chicane,  unworthy  of  a  great  office  like  the  ^gis.     They 


1 64  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

think  I  am  in  want  of  the  money,  and  that  they  can  frighten 

me  into  offering  a  compromise.     I'll  see  them first.     I'll 

not  take  a  penny  less  than  the  full  amount.  .  .  .  Shall  I 
confer  with  Lillywhite  ?  The  old  fellow  is  very  shrewd.  .  . 
No,  I'll  write  to  the  secretary  and  ask  what  he  means,  and 
keep  my  own  counsel  till  I  get  his  answer." 

So  Edward,  bottling  up  his  wrath,  constrained  himself  to 
write  a  studiously  courteous,  yet  curt  and  slightly  sarcastic 
letter,  asking  Mr.  Cutter  "  kindly  to  state  for  his  information 
the  precise  ground  on  which  the  company  refused  to  pay 
the  amount  for  which  his  father  had  insured  his  life,  and 
paid  the  stipulated  premiums  regularly,  and  to  the  last 
fraction." 

Mr.  Cutter's  reply  came  in  due  course.  It  was  to  the 
effect  that,  after  reading  the  account  of  the  late  Mr,  Prince's 
death  in  the  public  papers,  an  account  which  was  implicitly 
confirmed  by  the  certificates  his  executors  had  submitted  to 
them,  the  directors  could  come  to  no  other  conclusion  than 
that  he  had  invalidated  the  policy  by  violating  its  provisions. 
The  license  was  for  a  voyage  to  and  from  Trinidad,  and  the 
perils  incident  thereto,  and  a  limited  residence  in  the  island. 
It  did  not  include  the  perils  incident  to  a  cruise  in  the  Bay  of 
Paria  and  a  landing  on  the  Spanish  Main.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  directors  could  not,  in  duty  to  their  shareholders, 
pay  the  amount  of  which  the  late  Mr.  Prince  had  insured  his 
life  by  the  joint  policy  (43,751). 

"  There  seems  to  be  something  in  it  after  all,"  soliloquized 
Edward  when  he  had  read  the  letter.  ..."  The  accident 
was  clearly  not  incident  to  the  voyage  between  England  and 
Trinidad.  But  surely  a  license  to  reside  in  Trinidad  implies 
a  right  to  do  whatever  an  ordinary  resident  in  the  island 
would  do — cross  a  river,  climb  a  mountain,  or  cruise  in  the 
bay,  which  is  almost  completely  landlocked  and  as  much  a 
lake  as  a  sea.  However,  I  will  have  Lillywhite  in  and  hear 
what  he  says — two  heads  are  better  than  one — and  I  may  as 
well  tell  Charlie  at  the  same  time.     It  will  save  trouble." 

So  the  two  were  called  and  the  matter  laid  before  them. 

"  What  do  I  think  about  it  ?  "  exclaimed  Charlie,  impet- 
uously. "  Well,  I  call  it  a  piece  of  infernal  rascality.  The 
grounds  on  which  these  people  want  to  repudiate  their 
liability  appear  to  me  quite  frivolous,  and  I  should  pitch  into 
them  without  further  notice." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  165 

Edward  smiled. 

"  What  do  you  say,  Lillywhite  ? "  (turning  to  the  managing 
clerk). 

"  Well,  I  cannot  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Charles  that  it  is  a 
piece  of  rascality.  There  are  two  ends  to  a  stick,  break  it  as 
often  as  you  will,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  these  people  have 
a  case,  though  not  one  to  run  away  with  ;  and  they  are  surely 
taking  a  very  narrow  view  of  their  obligations  in  refusing  to 
pay.  But  it  is  a  nice  point,  a  very  nice  point,  and  one  as  to 
which  two  good  lawyers  might  easily  arrive  at  opposite  con- 
clusions. Was  your  father,  according  to  the  strict  letter  of 
his  license,  justified  in  taking  that  cruise  ?  That  is  the  ques- 
tion. I  should  say  he  was,  and  I  can  promise  you  one  thing, 
Mr.  Edward :  if  it  comes  to  a  fight,  and  the  case  is  tried  in 
this  county,  you'll  get  a  verdict,  whatever  the  lawyers  say. 
But  perhaps  the  compan}^  don't  mean  fighting,  after  all.  How 
would  it  be  to  show  your  teeth — write  that,  in  view  of  the 
position  they  have  taken  up,  you  have  no  alternative  but  to 
proceed  for  the  recovery  of  the  sum  due  under  the  policy, 
and  inquire  who  will  accept  service  for  them  ?  " 

"  That  is  exactly  what  I  thought  of  doing,  Lillywhite,  and 
I  will  do  it  to-day — nothing  like  striking  while  the  iron  is 
hot." 

This  ended  the  conference.  Edward  turned  to  his  desk, 
and  the  other  two  left  the  room. 

"  A  very  unpleasant  affair  this,  Mr.  Charles,"  observed 
the  managing  clerk,  sympathetically,  when  they  were  in  the 
outer  office. 

"  Very  ;  and  rascally,  too,  on  the  part  of  the  ^gis  people, 
I  call  it.  But  you  don't  think  there  is  any  chance  of  their 
winning,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Not  with  a  Peele  jury.  But  when  you  go  to  law  you 
never  know  what  the  issue  will  be.  A  surprise  may  be  sprung 
on  you  at  any  moment ;  and  fifteen  thousand  pounds  is  a 
large  sum,  either  to  gain  or  lose." 

"  Yes.  I  wonder  why  my  father  insured  his  life  for  so 
much.  It  was  very,  very  good  of  him  ;  but  there  was  really 
no  need.  My  mother  is  provided  for  by  her  marriage  settle- 
ment, and  the  office  will  bring  in  quite  enough  for  Ned  and 
me." 

"  One  of  you  might  get  married,  and  that  would  involve 
another  establishment,  you  know." 


1 66  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  It  would  not  involve  an  outlay  of  fifteen  thousand  pounds. 
However,  that  is  no  reason  why  the  company  should  not  pay 
up,  and  I  am  glad  that  Ned  is  going  for  them." 

"  Humph  !  They  have  not  told  him,  then.  I  thought  as 
much,"  mused  Lillywhite,  as  he  returned  to  his  desk.  "  They 
ought  to  have  done.  It  may  be  my  duty  to  enlighten  him 
one  of  these  days." 

Mr.  Lillywhite,  as  Edward  had  informed  his  mother,  was  a 
good  deal  "cut  up"  by  Mr.  Prince's  death.  He  knew  that 
he  had  not  been  very  kind  on  the  occasion  of  their  last  in- 
terview ;  letting  pique  get  the  better  of  propriety,  and  rather 
returning  evil  for  good  than  good  for  good  (Mr.  Prince  had 
always  treated  him  handsomely),  and  being  at  the  bottom  by 
no  means  a  bad  fellow,  he  greatly  regretted  the  fact ;  "  it 
stuck  in  his  crop,"  to  use  his  own  expression  ;  and,  by  way 
of  making  amends,  the  managing  clerk  resolved  to  do  all  that 
he  could  for  his  late  employer's  family.  This  meant  Mrs. 
Prince  and  Charlie,  particularly  Charlie,  for  though  Edward 
had  observed  the  conditions  of  their  compact,  and  since  his 
father's  death  had  been  surprisingly  affable,  the  managing 
clerk  did  not  love  him. 

Though  Lillywhite  had  not  been  told  so,  he  inferred  with 
certainty  that  the  insurance  money  was  destined  to  replace 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  trust  fund  ;  he  also  foresaw  that  failure  to  re- 
cover the  amount  from  the  company  would  lead  to  a  serious 
crisis  in  the  fortunes  of  the  family  and  the  firm. 

It  would  be  his  business  to  protect  Charlie. 

Edward  might  look  to  himself, 

"  If  he  likes  to  get  into  a  mess — make  himself  a  party  to 
the  fraud,  and  run  the  risk  of  being  struck  off  the  rolls — that 
is  his  affair,"  thought  Lillywhite, 

By  return  of  post  came  an  answer  to  Edward's  second  letter 
to  Mr,  Myles  Cutter.  It  was  provokingly  laconic,  and  ran 
as  follows  : — 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  es- 
teemed favor  of  yesterday,  and  in  reply,  beg  to  inform  you 
that  Messrs,  Bartrum,  Fox,  and  Crafty,  Chancery-lane,  are 
prepared  to  accept  service  on  our  behalf." 

"  They  do  mean  fighting,  then,"  muttered  Edward  between 
his  set  teeth.     Lie  had  cherished  a  lingering  hope  that  when 


THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE.  id-j 

"  my  directors"  saw  that  he  was  in  earnest  they  would  climb 
down. 

"  So  be  it.  I  will  hurry  on  the  action  with  all  speed  ;  draw 
up  a  case  for  counsel's  opinion  and  retain  Going  and  Somers. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  cause  should  not  be  tried  at  the 
winter  Assizes." 

When  Edward  went  home  he  told  his  mother. 

"  The  insurance  company  won't  pay,"  he  said  bitterly. 

"  Won't  pay  !     Why  }  " 

*'  There,  read  for  yourself,"  showing  her  Cutter's  letters 
and  the  copies  of  his  answers. 

It  is  given  to  few  people  to  consider  judicially  cases  in 
which  they  are  personally  interested,  and  Mrs.  Prince  was 
no<"  one  of  them.  In  the  refusal  of  the  ^Egis  to  pay  she  saw 
only  a  vile  attempt  to  ruin  herself  and  her  children,  and  de- 
nounced the  company  with  passionate  indignation. 

"  You  must  make  them  pay.  Don't  dally,  make  them," 
she  cried. 

"  You  may  be  sure  I  shall  do  my  best,  mother." 

*'  Your  best  won't  do,  Edward.  You  must  make  them. 
What  is  law  for,  if  not  to  redress  WTong  and  punish  fraud  .-' 
You  are  a  lawyer,  are  you  not  ?  " 

He  tried  to  explain,  but  she  interrupted  him  wdth  angry 
exclamations,  until,  and  at  length,  he,  too,  grew  angry. 

"  Do  you  suppose  I  have  not  as  much  interest  in  getting 
the  money  as  you  have  ?  "  he  said.  "  If  you  think  I  am  not 
competent  to  conduct  the  case,  put  it  into  the  hands  of  some 
other  solicitor.  I  won't  stand  in  the  way.  But  at  least  listen 
to  reason,  and  please  to  understand  that  though  I  will  strain 
every  nerve  to  succeed,  it  is  beyond  my  power  to  guarantee 
success.  As  for  the  law  and  fraud,  and  wrong  and  so  forth, 
perhaps  the  less  we  say  about  that  the  better." 

Mrs.  Prince  rose  from  her  chair,  her  nostrils  quivering,  her 
hands  clenched,  and  fierce  words  rose  to  her  lips ;  but  re- 
straining herself  with  a  great  effort  she  asked  her  son  quietly, 
albeit  in  a  voice  trembling  with  suppressed  wrath,  what  would 
happen  if  he  did  not  succeed. 

"  Frankly,  mother,  I  don't  know.  It  will  be  time  enough 
to  consider  that  contingency  when  it  arises,  and  I  think 
we  shall  succeed  ;  and  chances  are  at  least  in  our  favor.  I 
only  want  you  to  understand  that  the  company  have  a  case, 
and  we  must  not  reckon  on  success  as  a  certainty." 


1 68  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  When,  then — how  soon  ?  " 

"  When  is  the  case  likely  to  be  tried  ?  In  two  or  three 
months  I  hope.     At  any  rate,  before  Whitsuntide." 

"  God  help  me  !  "  she  murmured.  "  Until  then  I  will  try 
to  possess  my  soul  in  patience.  .  .  .  But  Mrs.  Lincoln 
is  coming  to  confer  with  you  about  the  appointment  of  fresh 
trustees.  She  will  be  here  in  a  few  days.  What  will  you 
say  to  her  1  " 

"  I  shall  temporize.  The  appointment  will  be  made  by 
deed,  which  I  will  promise  to  prepare  as  soon  as  I  have  a 
little  spare  time.  Mrs.  Lincoln's  matter  is  not  urgent ;  she 
is  too  good-natured  to  hurry  me,  and  one  way  and  another  I 
can  easily  put  her  off  three   or  four  months." 

"  Very  well,  I  leave  it  to  you,"  returned  Mrs.  Prince 
gloomily.  "  Anything  but  exposure.  It  would  kill  me — and 
not  a  word  to  Charlie,  mind.  You  see  I  was  right  in  not  let- 
ting you  tell  him  the  other  day." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that.  You  know  my  opinion — 
and  circumstances  will  force  us  to  tell  him — mark  me  if  they 
don't." 

"  But  not  yet,  not  yet.  Spare  him  a  little  longer — and 
me,"  murmured  Mrs.  Prince  faintly,  as  if  the  mere  idea  were 
more  than  she  could  bear. 

Edward  said  no  more,  but  if  he  had  not  dreaded  another 
scene  he  would,  probably,  have  insisted  on  telling  Charlie 
the  whole  truth  without  further  delay,  for  he  perceived  that 
if  the  impending  action  against  the  company  went  against 
them  he  should  have  to  bear  the  brunt.  Up  to  the  time  of 
his  father's  death  Edward  had  neither  incurred  blame  nor 
taken  responsibility.  He  had  simply  been  the  recipient  of  a 
secret.  But  his  father's  mantle  had  fallen  on  his  shoulders, 
and  whether  as  Mr.  Prince's  executor  or  Mrs.  Lincoln's  solici- 
tor, it  was  his  duty  to  inform  that  lady  of  the  disappearance 
of  her  settled  fortune — unless  he  could  restore  it — and  if  he 
failed  in  his  suit  restoration  would  be  impossible.  In  that 
event  he  would  be  regarded,  and  rightly,  z.%  particeps  a-iminis, 
and  though  his  offence  might  be  less  flagrant  than  his  father's, 
exposure  would  react  injuriously  on  his  character  and  mar 
his  professional  prospects. 

The  thought  that  Charlie  was  out  of  it  all,  and  should  the 
"  worst  come  to  the  worst,"  would  be  able  to  say  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln  and  Olive,  "  I  knew  nothing  of  this  dreadful  busi- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE.  1 69 

ness  ;  if  I  had  known  I  should  have  told  you,"  made  him  almost 
wild,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that  if  counsel's  opinion  were 
unfavorable  he  would  tell  Charlie  all,  whatever  his  mother 
might  say. 

But  counsel's  opinion  w'as  not  unfavorable.  It  was  to  this 
effect :  From  a  strictly  legal  point  of  view  the  insurance 
company  were  probably  right  in  their  contention  that  the 
late  Mr.  Prince  had  violated  the  conditions  of  his  license. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  could  be  no  question  that  the  land- 
ing on  the  Venezuelan  coast  was  unintentional,  and,  in 
the  circumstances,  unavoidable.  Moreover,  juries  did  not 
always  take  a  strictly  legal  view  of  the  cases  which  they  are 
called  upon  to  decide.  They  seldom  sympathized  with 
wealthy  corporations,  and  in  this  instance  the  sympathies  of 
the  jury  would  almost  certainly  be  with  the  plaintiffs,  for  at  the 
worst  Mr.  Prince  had  erred  from  inadvertence  ;  the  ground- 
ing of  the  yacht  and  the  bite  of  the  water  mocassin  being  acci- 
dents pure  and  simple,  and  no  fault  of  his.  Taking  all  these 
facts  into  consideration  there  was  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  executors  were  well  advised  in  taking  action  against 
the  company. 

After  this  Edward,  regarding  success  as  certain,  decided 
to  say  nothing  to  Charlie  till  after  the  trial. 


170  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE, 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

olive's  design. 

As  the  Princes  had  no  interest  in  making  a  secret  of  their 
difference  with  the  insurance  company,  it  soon  became  a 
matter  of  common  knowledge  in  the  borough  of  Peele,  and  the 
burgesses  naturally  sided  with  the  family  of  their  "  late 
eminent  and  respected  townsman,"  as  the  local  paper 
described  Mr,  Prince.  Equally  natural  was  it  that  the  sub- 
ject should  be  warmly  discussed  wherever  men  met,  and  the 
"  shameful  conduct "  of  the  ^gis  nightly  denounced  in  every 
tavern  in  the  town. 

The  Mercury  did  a  leading  article  on  the  subject,  in  the 
course  of  which  it  expressed  great  regret  that  a  certain 
highly-respected  lady  should  be  called  upon,  so  soon  after 
the  death  of  her  late  lamented  husband,  to  undergo  another 
trial,  assured  her  of  its  sympathy,  and  wished  her  a  happy 
issue  out  of  her  afflictions. 

This  and  the  many  other  assurances  of  sympathy  which 
she  received  were  very  gratifying  to  Mrs.  Prince.  She 
regarded  them  as  well-deserved  tributes  to  the  respectability 
of  the  family  and  the  memory  of  her  husband.  But  Edward, 
who  took  wider  views  than  his  mother,  would  have  been 
much  better  pleased  had  the  sympathy  of  his  neighbors  been 
somewhat  less  demonstrative.  He  feared  that  it  might  do 
him  more  harm  than  good,  and  the  result  justified  his  appre- 
hensions. The  defendants,  getting  wind  of  the  strong  feel- 
ing which  prevailed  against  them  at  Peele,  and  believing  with 
reason,  that  no  Peele  jury  could  be  trusted  to  render  an 
impartial  verdict,  applied  for  a  change  of  venue,  and  the 
application,  though  energetically  opposed  by  the  plaintiffs' 
counsel,  was  granted,  and  an  order  made  for  the  case  to  be 
tried  at  London  by  a  special  jury. 

"A   bad    job,    this,    Mr.    Charlie,"    observed    Lillywhite 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  171 

gravely,  when  they  received  the  news  from  Edward,  who  was 
in  London,  "  watching  the  case." 

"  I  don't  see  it,  Lillywhite.  One  jury  is  as  good  as 
another.  We  have  right  on  our  side,  and  an  insurance  com- 
pany that  contests  a  claim  always  fights  at  a  disadvantage. 
The  legal  presumption,  as  well  as  popular  feeling,  is  against 
them." 

"  That  is  true.  All  the  same,  I  don't  much  like  London 
juries.  They  are  conceited  chaps,  those  Londoners.  Then 
the  omen  is  bad.  It  is  just  as  if  you  were  going  to  fight  a 
duel,  and  your  opponent  had  won  the  toss  for  the  choice  of 
ground." 

Edward,  also,  was  discouraged  by  the  result  of  this  first 
passage  of  arms.  Like  Lillywhite,  he  regarded  it  as  a  bad 
omen.  But  a  consultation  with  Sergeant  Somers,  his  leading 
counsel,  who  never,  under  any  circumstances,  allowed  him- 
self to  be  discouraged,  restored  his  confidence. 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  you  don't  gain  more  than  you  lose," 
observed  the  great  advocate.  "  Though  a  Peele  jury  might 
be  more  friendly,  a  London  jury  is  sure  to  be  more  intelli- 
gent. On  the  facts  before  me,  Mr.  Prince,  I  have  little  doubt 
as  to  the  result.  Not  that  I  think  our  legal  position  is 
absolutely  unassailable — it  has  one  or  two  very  weak  points 
— but  I  shall  be  able  to  make  a  strong  appeal  to  the  jury  on 
their  sentimental  side,  and  when  sentiment  and  prejudice  go 
together  they  are  bad  to  beat." 

So  Edward  went  home  comforted,  for  the  sergeant  was  a 
great  verdict  winner. 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  Olive  were  returned  to  All 
Hallows,  and  the  now  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of  Prince 
and  Prince  presently  waited  on  his  client  to  inform  her  as 
to  the  progress  of  the  chancery  suit  (if  it  could  be  said  to 
progress)  and  consult  her  touching  the  appointment  of  new 
trustees  under  her  marriage  settlement. 

His  report  was  disheartening.  To  all  appearance  the  suit 
might  go  on  forever,  or,  at  any  rate,  until  the  partnership 
estate  was  exhausted  and  there  was  nothing  left  for  anybody, 
save  the  lawyers,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  appalled  by  the  prospect, 
urged  her  adviser  to  try  whether  he  could  not  put  a  stop  to 
further  litigation  by  arranging  a  compromise.  To  effect  this 
object,  she  was  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  short  of  absolute 
surrender. 


172  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Edward  quite  agreed  with  his  client  as  to  the  expediency 
of  the  course  she  suggested,  and  said  he  should  use  his  ut- 
most efforts  to  carry  out  her  wishes.  He  would  have  said  so 
in  any  case,  if  only  by  way  of  keeping  in  the  lady's  good 
graces ;  but  in  this  instance  he  spoke  with  more  than  pro- 
fessional sincerity.  True,  the  chancery  suit  was  a  good 
thing  for  the  office ;  but  it  is  doubtful  wisdom  to  kill  the 
goose  that  lays  the  golden  egg,  and  Edward  reflected  that 
in  view  of  certain  eventualities  it  were  a  still  better  thing  to 
deserve  well  of  Mrs.  Lincoln.  Moreover,  as  he  had  not 
abandoned  the  hope  of  marrying  Olive,  it  was  clearly  his  in- 
terest to  save  the  remnant  of  her  heritage  from  the  harpies 
of  the  law. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  next  mentioned  that  she  was  resolved  to 
leave  All  Hallows.  It  would  go  very  much  against  the  grain. 
But  she  felt  that  she  must ;  the  expense  of  ''  running  it "  and 
fighting  a  chancery  suit  at  the  same  time  was  greater  than  she 
could  afford  ;  and  Edward  received  instructions  to  advertise 
the  house  to  be  let  furnished.  Mr.  Marsh,  an  old  friend 
of  her  husband's,  whose  business  took  him  frequently  to 
America,  owned  a  pleasant  little  house  on  the  coast,  not  more 
than  two  hours'  railway  journey  from  Peele,  which,  hav- 
ing no  present  use  for,  he  had  offered  her,  at  a  nominal  rent. 
There  she  and  Olive  would  abide  until  they  were  "  out  of 
chancery,"  and  could  see  their  way  more  clearly. 

"  And  now  about  my  trustees,"  observed  Mrs.  Lincoln. 
"  I  suppose  I  should  appoint  two." 

"  That  is  as  you  like.  You  have  power  under  the  settle- 
ment to  appoint  two." 

"  And  I  shall  do  so.  It  is  more  regular  ;  and  it  is  not  fair 
to  saddle  one  friend  with  the  entire  responsibility.  Every- 
body is  not  like  your  dear  father.  He  was  one  in  a  thousand. 
The  money  is  still  in  Consols,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Yes,  certainly,  of  course,"  answered  Edward  with  a  ner- 
vous start ;  and  his  eyes  fell  somewhat,  and  a  fugitive  flush 
of  shame  mantled  his  brow,  for  he  was  not  yet  so  case- 
hardened  that  he  could  lie  in  cold  blood  without  a  sense  of 
humiliation  and  shame. 

"  Well,  keep  it  there.  It  is  a  comfort  to  know  that,  what- 
ever happens,  I  shall  have  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  of  which  nothing  short  of  the  collapse  of  the  British 
Empire  can  deprive  me.     But  I  must  have  two  trustees — 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


173 


would  you  kindly  consent  to  be  one  of  them — in  succession 
to  your  father  ?  " 

"With  all  my  heart.  I  shall  only  be  too  glad,"  was  the 
quick  and  almost  eager  answer. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  looked  pleased.  It  was  not  often  that  the 
self-contained  Edward  Prince  showed  so  much  warmth. 

"  I  knew  you  would.  Thank  you  very  much.  You  lay 
me  under  a  great  obligation,  which  I  hope  some  time  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  discharging.  And  now,  as  to  your 
colleague.  I  cannot  think  of  anybody  more  suitable  than 
Mr.  Marsh,  the  friend  of  whom  I  spoke  just  now.  He  is  a 
man  of  business  and  means,  and  very  nice  in  every  way. 

"  Will  he  act  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  he  will.  I  shall  ask  him  the 
next  time  we  meet ;  or  shall  I  write  ?  Is  there  any  hurry 
about  the  appointment .''  " 

"  Not  the  least.  And  I  have  so  many  irons  in  the  fire  just 
now  that  I  hardly  know  which  way  to  turn.  Our  action 
against  the  ^gis  takes  a  good  deal  of  my  time,  not  to  speak 
of  other  matters  ;  and  then  there  is  your  chancery  suit,  and 
the  proposed  compromise,  as  to  which  I  mean  to  run  up  to 
town  and  see  Topper,  Sandboy,  and  Perrywinkle  right  away." 

"  You  are  very  good.  Well,  never  mind  about  the  appoint- 
ment just  now.  I  won't  write  to  Mr.  Marsh.  I  will  wait  till 
I  see  him,  and  as  he  is  going  abroad,  that  will  not  be  for 
some  time." 

Edward  breathed  again.  The  immediate  appointment  of 
Mr.  Marsh  would  be  fatal.  He  knew  him  by  repute  as  a 
very  shrewd  man  of  business,  not  likely,  Edward  felt  sure,  to 
accept  the  trusteeship  without  ocular  demonstration  that 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  Consols  stood  in  their  joint  names.  At  all 
hazards  the  appointment  must  be  delayed  until  the  ^gis 
paid  up. 

When  her  solicitor  was  gone  Mrs.  Lincoln  gave  her 
daughter  an  account  of  what  had  passed,  lauding  Edward  to 
the  skies  for  his  kindness  and  business  aptitude. 

Olive  was  in  a  captious  mood,  due  m.ainly  to  the  necessity 
(which  there  was  no  denying)  of  leaving  All  Hallows ;  and 
praise  of  Edward  seemed  to  imply  dispraise  of  Charlie. 

"  Where  does  the  kindness  come  in  ?  "  she  asked  abruptly, 
when  her  mother  paused  for  a  reply. 


174  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Come  in  ?  What  a  question.  It  comes  in  everywhere, 
First  of  all  in  agreeing  to  be  my  trustee." 

"  That  is  not  much.  I  remember  hearing  father  say  that 
when  a  trust  fund  is  invested  in  Government  stock  a  trustee- 
ship involves  no  risk  and  very  little  trouble.  Besides, 
Edward  Prince  being  a  lawyer  will  make  a  charge  for  his 
trouble,  I  suppose  ?  Why  don't  you  ask  Charlie  or  Mr.  Lilly- 
white  to  be  a  trustee  }  They  would  consider  it  an  honor, 
and  be  quite  as  efficient  as  Mr.  Marsh,  I  should  say." 

"  Not  a  bad  idea,  Olive  ;  and  if  Mr.  Marsh  does  not  return 
from  the  Continent  in  a  few  weeks,  or  shows  any  disinclin- 
tion  to  act,  I  shall  ask  Charlie." 

"  You  think  he  would  be  better  than  Mr.  Lillywhite  ?  " 
asked  Olive  carelessly,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  her  which  of  the  two  her  mother  might  prefer. 

"  Charlie,  of  course,  if  only  because  he  is  the  younger." 

"  Mr.  Marsh  is  not  young." 

"  No,  but  he  is  an  old  friend.  However,  I  am  not  nearly 
so  wedded  to  the  idea  as  I  was  before  you  suggested  Charlie. 
There  is  no  hurry,  Edward  says,  and — we  shall  see." 

From  which  Olive  inferred  that  the  decision  would  be  in 
accordance  with  her  desires.  As  may  be  supposed,  her 
motives  for  wishing  Charlie  to  be  chosen  were  based  rather 
on  sentiment  than  reason.  If  possible  she  would  have  had 
him  appointed  and  Edward  discarded,  but  that  being  out  of 
the  question  she  wanted  him  to  be  at  least  equal  with  his 
brother  ;  she  also  thought  that  if  Charlie  were  made  a  trustee 
he  would  be  brought  into  more  intimate  relations  with  her 
mother,  and  that  business  arising  out  of  the  trust  might  afford 
him  an  occasional  excuse  for  visiting  them  at  their  new  home 
by  the  sea. 

To  all  seeming  a  harmless  enough  design,  yet  fraught  with 
momentous  consequences,  as  well  for  Olive  herself  as  for  the 
Princes. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


175 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

EDWARD  SCORES  AND    OLIVE    SCHEMES. 

Edward  Prince  had  no  great  hope  of  success  in  his  mis- 
sion of  compromise.  Nevertheless,  the  attempt  was  worth  mak- 
ing. If  he  succeeded  he  should  make  a  fast  friend  of  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  and  by  serving  both  mother  and  daughter  increase 
his  chance  of  winning  the  latter.  If  he  failed,  the  chancery 
suit  would  go  merrily  on,  bringing  grist  to  the  professional 
mill — for  there  still  existed  a  considerable  residue  of  the 
partnership  estate  to  cut  and  carve  at. 

So  "  equal  to  either  fortune  "  as  touching  the  matter  in 
hand,  and  confident  as  to  the  outcome  of  his  action  against 
the  ^'Egis,  Edward  went  to  London  in  high  spirits.  His  first 
proceeding  was  to  call  at  the  office  of  Topper,  Sandboy, 
and  Perrywinkle,  of  King-street,  Cheapside,  the  legal  advisers 
of  Mr.  Jump,  who  was  supposed  to  be  the  most  irreconcilable 
litigious  of  the  half-dozen  parties  concerned  in  "  re  Lincoln, 
Lyman,  and  others." 

Edward  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Perrywinkle, 
who  managed  the  Chancery  department  of  the  firm's  business, 
and  after  cooling  his  heels  for  an  hour  in  the  general  office, 
he  was  allowed  to  see  Mr.  Perrywinkle,  a  short,  slightly-built 
man  of  thirty-five  or  so,  with  a  quick,  vivacious  manner,  a 
sallow  skin,  lantern  jaws,  and  beady  black  eyes. 

Although  Edward  was  exceedingly  riled  at  being  kept  so  long 
waiting,  he  put  on  his  pleasantest  smile  and  most  urbane 
manner,  and  opened  the  campaign  with  an  apology  to  Mr. 
Perrywinkle  for  trespassing  on  his  valuable  time. 

Perrywinkle  was  equally  expansive. 

"  Don't  mention  it,  my  dear  sir,"  said  he.  "  I  am  de- 
lighted to  see  you.  Pray  take  a  seat.  And  now  what  can  I 
do  for  you  ? " 

"  Well,  we  are  both  busy  men,  and  I  will  come  straight  to 
the  point.  I  am  concerned  for  Mrs.  Lincoln,  as  you  know, 
and  my  object  is  to  ascertain  whether  you  don't  think  it  would 


176  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

be  advisable  for  us  to  cease  litigating  and  arrange  our  differ- 
ence amongst  ourselves." 

Perriwinkle's  cadaverous  countenance  lengthened  portent- 
ously. 

"  God  bless  me  !  I  surely  haven't  made  a  miscalculation," 
he  exclaimed.  "The  Pactolean  stream  is  not  dried  up  at  its 
source  ?     There  is  still  corn  in  Egypt — an  estate  I  mean  ?  " 

"  Of  course  there  is,  or  I  shouldn't  be  here." 

"  I  see.  Of  course  you  wouldn't.  Yes,  I  see.  You  are 
from  the  country,  and  your  client  is  a  widow.  Being  tired  of 
litigation — which  I  admit  is  rather  a  costly  luxury — she  has 
instructed  you,  or  you  have  advised  her,  to  hoist  the  white 
flag,  with  a  view  to  a  suspension  of  arms  and  a  treaty  of 
peace  ? " 

Edward  nodded.  Perrywinkle's  manner  was  growing 
slightly  unpleasant,  not  to  say  offensive. 

"  You  have  been  in  the  general  office  .-'  " 

"  Rather  !     I  waited  there  an  hour." 

"  Well,  as  I  daresay  you  observed,  it  is  crowded  with 
clerks,  and  there  are  as  many  more  in  other  parts  of  the 
building — and  then  the  rent  of  these  offices  !  How  much  do 
you  think  we  have  to  make  before  we  get  anything  for  our- 
selves ?  " 

"  I  have  no  idea." 

"  Five  thousand  a  year — rather  more  than  less.  We  are  not 
a  country  office,  and  business  is  business." 

"  I  understand.  You  have  got  hold  of  a  good  thing  and 
mean  to  stick  to  it." 

"  I  did  not  say  so,  but  of  course  you  are  at  liberty  to  infer 
what  you  like.  However,  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  our 
client  won't  hear  of  a  compromise.  He  thinks  he  has  been 
badly  used,  and  resents,  as  an  imputation  on  his  good  faith, 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  demand  for  an  account  of  the  firm's  transac- 
tions during  the  twelve  months  immediately  preceding  her 
husband's  death.  He  has  large  independent  resources,  and 
rneans  to  go  on  fighting  as  long  as  there  is  a  shot  in  the 
locker." 

"  In  that  case  I  have  got  my  answer,  and  may  as  well  take 
my  departure.     Good-morning,  Mr.  Perrywinkle." 

"  Good-morning,  my  dear  sir,  ^^i^^-morning,"  repeated 
Perrywinkle,  bowing  his  visitor  to  the  door  with  effusive 
politeness. 


7'HE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  177 

As  Edward,  highly  indignant,  rose  to  take  his  leave,  he 
noticed  on  Perrywinkle's  desk  a  letter  addressed  : 

"  Jabez  J.  Jump,  Esq., 

Thatched  House  Club, 
St.  James's-street." 

This  gave  him  an  idea,  on  which  he  forthwith  acted. 
Making  for  Cheapside,  he  hailed  a  passing  hansom,  and 
bade  the  driver  take  him  to  the  Thatched  House  Club. 

"  It's  highly  irregular,  and  as  likely  as  not  I  shall  meet 
with  another  rebuff,"  he  thought;  "but  I'll  make  the  at- 
tempt, if  only  on  the  off-chance  of  getting  even  with  that  cad 
of  a  Perrywinkle." 

Mr.  Jump  was  not  in,  said  the  hall  porter,  but  he  generally 
lunched  at  the  club,  and  the  most  likely  time  to  find  him 
disengaged  was  about  2.30.  On  this  Edward  went  elsewhere 
for  awhile,  and,  presently  returning,  met  with  his  man,  whose 
acquaintance  he  had  made  a  few  years  previously  at  All 
Hallows.  Albeit  Jabez  J.  Jum.p  hailed  from  Vermont,  he 
bore  not  the  least  resemblance  to  the  Yankee  of  comedy  and 
the  comic  papers.  He  was  an  essentially  "all  round  man." 
His  body  was  round,  his  face  was  round,  and  his  limbs  were 
round.  He  had  rosy  cheeks,  shrewd  gray  eyes,  and  a  genial 
smile.  His  whiskers  were  of  the  orthodox  British  cut ;  he 
neither  chewed  tobacco  nor  sported  a  goatee  ;  and,  strangest 
of  all,  had  almost  lost  the  nasal  twang  of  his  native  land. 

Mr.  Jump  received  his  visitor  cordially. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Prince,"  he  said.  "Won't  you  sit 
down  ?  What  can  I  offer  you  .-'  A  cup  of  coffee  .''  All  right. 
Two  cups  of  coffee  at  once,  John  Thomas.  You  smoke,  of 
course.     Plere  is  a  cigar  I  can  recommend." 

Edward  took  the  proft'ered  cigar,  and  settled  himself  in  the 
very  easy  chair  which  Mr.  Jump  wheeled  round  for  him. 

"  A  great  many  changes  since  v.-e  last  met  five  years  ago 
at  poor  Toby's  (one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Christian  names  was 
Tobias).  And  sad  ones.  Toby  and  your  father  both  gone 
to  their  long  homes  ;  the  house  of  Lyman,  Lincoln,  and  Jump 
gone  to  pot ;  and  ourselves  at  loggerheads,  fighting  with  the 
ferocity  of  Kilkenny  cats.  But  such  is  life.  How  is  Mrs. 
Lincoln  ?  " 

"  V/ell  in  health,  but  low  in  spirits." 


178  THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 

"  Owing  to  this  cursed  chancery  suit,  no  doubt.  Well,  I 
don't  wonder  at  that  damping  anybody's  spirits.  I  know  it 
often  damps  mine ;  and  it  takes  a  good  deal  to  do  that,  you 
bet.  Why  doesn't  she  come  down  from  her  high  horse  and 
settle,  then  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  aware  that  she  ever  rode  the  high  horse.  Any- 
how, she  is  quite  ready  to  come  to  terms." 

"  The  deuce  she  is  !  Why,  it  was  only  last  week  I  said 
to  Perrywinkle,  '  Why  doesn't  somebody  propose  a  com- 
promise .'' '  It  is  about  time,  I  guess.  If  we  quarrel  much 
longer  there  won't  be  a  red  cent  left  to  serve  as  a  bone  of 
contention.     Hadn't  you  better  see  Perrywinkle  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  him,  and  as  the  interview  was  not  precisely 
satisfactory  I  came  here  to  see  you." 

"  You  surely  don't  mean  to  say  that  he  told  you  I  did  not 
want  to  end  it  ?  " 

"  If  he  had  said  you  did  I  should  not  be  here  now,  Mr. 
Jump." 

"  I  see.  He  does  not  want  to  end  it,  and  no  wonder,  con- 
sidering how  he  is  fattening  on  our  folly.  I  was  a  fool  not 
to  think  of  that  before.  I  w'sh  all  lawyers  were  at  the  devil 
— I  beg  pardon  (laughing  he;  'tily),  I  was  forgetting  you  were 
one  of  the  tribe — all  London  awyers,  let  us  say.  And  now 
about  business.  What  are  your  ideas  ?  Have  you  anything 
deiinite  to  propose  ?  " 

Edward  had  something  definite  to  propose,  and  he  put  the 
matter  so  clearly  and  fairly,  and  was  so  "  well  up  "  in  all  the 
complicated  details  of  the  case  that  Mr.  Jump  complimented 
him  on  his  smartness.  After  some  further  conversation  the 
American  assented,  "  in  principle,"  to  Edward's  proposals, 
and  undertook  to  submit  them  to  the  other  parties  to  the 
suit,  and  recommend  their  adoption.  But  as  two  of  the 
litigants  were  in  New  York,  and  for  other  reasons,  this 
would  require  time ;  and  use  what  diligence  they  might 
several  months  must  needs  elapse  before  "  the  business  could 
be  put  through,"  but  that  it  would  eventually  be  "  put 
through  "  Mr.  Jump  had  no  doubt  whatever. 

"  I  don't  think  I  shall  change  my  lawyers,"  he  observed. 
"  It  is  a  bad  thing  to  swop  horses  when  you  are  crossing  the 
stream  ;  and  Perrywinkle  knows  the  ropes.  But  if  I  remain 
his  client  he  will  have  to  dance  to  my  tune  ;  I  have  danced 
to  his  quite  long  enough." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


179 


All  of  which  greatly  pleased  Edward.  He  had  scored  in 
every  way  ;  done  a  good  thing  for  himself  and  his  client,  and 
put  a  spoke  in  the  wheel  of  Mr.  Perrywinkle  ;  and  he  re- 
turned to  Peele  full  of  admiration  of  his  own  cleverness,  and 
in  a  serene  and  self-satistied  mood. 

"  I  have  as  good  as  settled  it,"  he  said  complacently  to 
Charlie  and  Lillywhite,  "  and  that  means  a  saving  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln  and  Olive  of  something  like  two  or  three  score 
thousand  pounds  out  of  the  fire.  Perrywinkle  gave  me  a 
shirty  answer,  and  sneered  at  me  as  a  country  lawyer.  But 
I  was  not  going  to  be  bowled  over  in  that  way,  so  I  went 
straight  to  Jump.  It  was  rather  a  bold  thing  to  do  ;  but  it 
turned  out  all  right.  I  showed  him  how  desirable  it  was — 
in  his  own  interest — to  come  to  terms,  and  he  not  only 
accepted  my  proposals — in  principle — but  undertook  to  get 
the  other  parties  to  the  suit  to  accept  them.  That  is  why  I 
regard  the  affair  as  being  practically  settled." 

Charlie  warmly  congratulated  his  brother  on  his  success. 

"  Seeing  Jump  was  simply  a  master  stroke,"  he  said ;  "  I 
should  not  have  thought  of  it.  I  should  just  have  punched 
Perrywinkle's  head  and  come  home." 

Edward  bore  himself  rather  more  modestly  when  he  made 
his  report  to  Mrs.  Lincoln.  Yet,  even  with  her  he  did  not 
hide  his  light  under  a  bushel,  and  felt  that  he  fully  deserved 
the  profuse  thanks  which  she  gave  him  and  the  praises  she 
bestowed  on  his  fertility  of  resource  and  presence  of  mind. 
OUve  also  thanked  him,  and  so  graciously  and  heartily  withal 
(for  had  he  not  rendered  them  a  great  service  and  lifted  a 
load  of  care  from  her  mother's  mind  ?)  as  to  raise  his  hopes 
still  higher  and  make  him  hardly  less  confident  of  winning 
her  love  than  beating  the  Assurance  Company. 

Before  he  went  away  Mrs.  Lincoln  inquired  after  Charlie, 
especially  as  to  whether  he  was  taking  more  kindly  to  the  law. 

"  Oh,  he  does  his  best,  and  makes  himself  useful — after  a 
fashion  ;  but  he  is  not  clever,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  I  fear  will 
never  make  a  lawyer." 

Although  this  observation,  and  the  manner  of  it,  which 
was  flippant  and  almost  contemptuous,  vexed  Olive,  she 
could  not  disguise  from  herself  that  there  was  much  truth  in 
Edward's  opinion  of  his  brother's  character,  and  she  regretted 
more  than  ever  that  destiny  had  made  Charlie  a  second-rate 
lawyer  instead  of  a  hero,  or  a  poet,  or  something  equally  dis- 


i8o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

tinguished.  A  few  daj'S  later  the  lovers  met  at  the  old  tryst- 
ing-place  for  the  last  time.  On  the  morrow  she  and  her 
mother  were  leaving  All  Hallows,  probably  never  to  return,  for 
even  though  Edward's  proposed  compromise  were  accepted 
without  serious  modification  there  was  grave  reason  to  doubt 
whether  Mrs.  Lincoln's  future  income  would  enable  her  to 
keep  the  place  up.  The  unliquidated  costs  of  the  suit  were 
sure  to  be  heavy,  and  nobody  could  tell  how  much  the  assets 
of  the  defunct  firm  were  likely  to  realize. 

No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  lovers  were  not  in  the  best 
of  spirits.  Charlie  was  the  more  melancholy  of  the  two.  Ed- 
ward's success  in  the  matter  of  the  chancery  suit  had  kindled 
his  natural  arrogance,  and  he  was  again  making  things  un- 
pleasant at  the  office.  Home  was  not  what  it  had  been.  His 
father's  death  had  worsened  his  mother's  temper ;  she  kept 
her  younger  son  at  a  distance,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  gave 
all  her  confidence  to  Edward,  and  Edward  affected  to  treat 
him  as  a  boy.  This  was  quite  bad  enough  ;  and  now  Olive 
was  going  away.  Correspondence  with  her  would  be  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  and  he  could  only  hope  to  see  her  at 
long  intervals. 

Olive  tried  to  cheer  him. 

"  We  are  not  going  to  the  end  of  the  world,  you  foolish 
boy,"  she  said,  smiling.  "  Whitebeach  is  only  fifty  miles 
away," 

"  What  does  it  matter  where  you  are  if  I  cannot  see  you  ?  " 
asked  Charlie  moodily. 

"  Oh,  but  you  can  see  me.  You  must  come  to  White- 
beach." 

"  All  very  fine  ;  but  what  would  mother  say — and  Ned  ?  " 

"  You  must  have  an  excuse,  of  course,  and  I  think  you  will 
have  one.  I  am  almost  sure  my  mother  will  ask  you  to  be 
one  of  her  trustees,  along  with  Edward.  You  will,  won't 
you  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  I  would  do  anything  in  the  world  to  oblige 
her  and  please  you,  darling." 

"  Take  care  what  you  say.  I  shall,  perhaps,  be  putting 
you  to  the  test  one  of  these  days." 

"  I  wish  you  would — any  test  you  like.  I  shall,  of  course, 
be  glad  to  act  as  one  of  your  mother's  trustees,  but  I  don't 
quite  see  how  that  will  afford  me  a  pretext  for  visiting  you 
at  Whitebeach." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  l8l 

"  You  could  come  to  her  to  talk  about  business,  you  know." 

"  I  cannot  imagine  what  there  would  be  to  talk  about — 
unless  you  put  her  up  to  ask  me  to  bring  her  dividends  now 
and  then." 

"  Well,  I  shall  see  whether  I  cannot.  I  shall  have  to  mind 
what  I  am  about,  though.  But  you  are  all  to  be  invited  to 
spend  a  few  days  with  us  at  Whitsuntide  ;  and  your  mother 
has  asked  me  to  visit  her  at  Holmcroft.  Oh,  we  shall  have 
opportunities,  and  I  shall  write  to  you  occasionally,  though 
you  must  on  no  account  write  to  me.  Mother  is  so  very  curi- 
ous about  letters.  And  when  the  chancery  suit  is  gone  to 
the  bourne  from  which  no  traveller  returns,  which  I  hope 
will  be  soon,  and  mother  can  think  about  other  things,  we 
will  tell  her  all.  So  keep  up  your  courage,  Charlie  dear. 
You  said  just  now  you  would  do  anything  to  please  me.  Do 
that ;  be  of  good  cheer  ;  it  will  please  me  immensely." 

"  God  bless  you,  Olive,  you  are  the  best  and  dearest  girl  in 
the  world." 

"Of  course  I  am — but  that  is  no  reason  why — see  how  you 
have  upset  my  hair.  And  now  I  must  really  run  away.  We 
shall  meet  again  at  Whitsuntide  ;  and  you  shall  hear  from  me 
in  the  meantime.     Good-night." 

And  then  they  parted,  and  rather  to  his  surprise  Charlie 
went  away  in  better  heart  than  he  had  come — the  outlook 
was  not  so  bad  as  he  had  thought  it,  after  all. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XXIIl. 

TRIED  AND  FOUND  WANTING. 

Some  two  months  after  the  Lincolns  left  Peele  Edward 
received  a  letter  from  his  client  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Marsh 
being  still  on  the  Continent  and  the  time  of  his  return  uncer- 
tain she  had  decided  not  to  trouble  him  in  the  matter  of  the 
trusteeship.  She  was  writing  to  Charlie,  asking  him  to  be 
good  enough  to  accept  the  appointment,  and  in  the  event  of 
his  acceding  to  her  request  (as  to  which  she  made  no  doubt) 
Edward  would  perhaps  kindly  prepare  the  necessary  deed, 
and  they  could  all  sign  it  when  the  brothers  and  Mrs.  Prince 
came  to  Whitebeach  at  Whitsuntide. 

"  Charlie  will  accept,  of  course,  and  a  good  thing,  a  very 
good  thing.  Plis  appointment  will  make  us  safe  in  any  event," 
thought  Edward  to  himself :  and  he  felt  much  as  a  general 
would  feel  who  on  the  eve  of  battle  was  told  that  an  impor- 
tant pass  in  his  rear  had  been  occupied  by  a  detachment  of 
his  own  troops.  For  as  the  day  of  the  trial  drew  near  Edward 
grew  less  confident.  He  protested  to  himself  and  everybody 
else  that  they  were  sure  to  win  ;  but  the  possibility  of  failure 
was  undeniable,  and  followed  by  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Marsh  would  have  spelt  ruin. 

He  hinted  as  much  to  his  mother,  when  he  told  her  of 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  proposal,  to  appoint  Charlie,  saying  what  a 
good  thing  it  was  and  how  much  it  had  eased  his  mind. 

Mrs.  Prince  looked  as  if  she  did  not  quite  understand 
him. 

"  I  am  glad  Mrs.  Lincoln  wishes  to  appoint  your  brother," 
she  said.     "  It  is  a  compliment  to  him  and  the  family.     Still, 

I  don't  quite  see You  are  surely  not  in  any  doubt  as  to  the 

result  of  the  trial." 

"  I  think  we  shall  win,  of  course  :  but  everything  is  possible, 
and  there  is  always  the  glorious  uncertainty,  you  know." 

"  Don't  talk  to  me  in  that  way.     I  knov;  nothing  of  the  sort, 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  183 

in  this  case,"  returned  Mrs.  Prince,  severely,  almost  angrily, 
indeed.  "  I  refuse  to  admit  the  possibility  which  you  sug- 
gest. And  if — if  the  verdict  were  to  go  against  us,  I  think  I 
should  doubt  the  goodness  of  God." 

Edward,  dreading  a  scene,  said  no  more.  Besides,  it  was 
obviously  impossible  to  reason  with  a  woman  who  flatly 
refused  to  consider  a  certain  contingency  because  its  occur- 
rence would  conflict  with  her  ideas  of  the  divine  goodness. 

Charlie,  whom  Olive  had  already  apprised  of  her  mother's 
decision,  wrote  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  by  return  post,  saying  how 
glad  he  should  be  to  accept  the  appointment  ;  and  Edward, 
writing  at  the  same  time,  expressed  his  sense  of  the  honor 
conierred  upon  them,  and  assured  her  that  he  and  his  brother 
would  use  their  best  endeavors  to  justify  her  confidence. 

The  trial  came  off  the  following  week,  in  the  Court  of 
Queen's  Bench.  It  was  marked  by  no  sensational  incidents, 
nor,  save  at  Peele,  did  it  excite  any  particular  interest. 
There  was  no  dispute  as  to  the  facts  ;  for  nobody  doubted 
that  Leonard  Prince  had  died  from  the  effect  of  a  snake-bite 
on  the  coast  of  Venezuela  ;  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  expense 
of  bringing  witnesses  from  Port-of-Spain,  or  sending  thither 
a  commission,  the  solicitors  concerned  had  agreed  to  accept, 
as  evidence,  the  account  of  the  occurrence  given  by  the 
Trinidad  papers,  and  confirmed  by  private  correspondents. 

Sergeant  Somers  and  a  junior  appeared  for  the  plaintiffs, 
the  Attorney-General  and  a  junior  for  the  defendants. 

The  sergeant,  who  was  a  fluent  and  powerful  speaker, 
carried  the  v/ar  into  the  enemy's  camp  with  great  vigor,  stig- 
matizing the  Assurance  Company's  refusal  to  pay  the  amount 
for  which  Mr.  Prince  had  insured  his  life  as  a  mean  evasion 
of  a  solemn  obligation,  and  contending  at  considerable  length 
that  the  deceased  had  not  broken  his  contract  by  going  ashore 
at  Chachacara  Bay.  The  license  for  a  limited  sojourn  in 
Trinidad,  a  license  for  which  he  had  paid  an  extra  premium, 
surely  carried  with  it  the  privilege  of  doing  what  ordinary 
inhabitants  of  the  island  were  in  the  habit  of  doing.  A  cruise 
in  the  Bay  of  Paria  was  an  ordinary  incident  of  Trinidadian 
life  ;  the  landing  and  the  result  of  an  accident,  for  which  Mr. 
Prince  could  no  more  be  held  responsible  than  for  inadver- 
tently treading  on  the  water  mocassin  that  caused  his  death. 
He  disembarked  because,  in  the  captain's  opinion,  he  would 
be  safer  ashore  than   aboard.     \\\  this  he  exercised  a  wise 


1 84  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

discretion,  and  the  learned  counsel  felt  quite  sure  that  in 
analogous  circumstances  any  of  the  "gentlemen  of  the  jury" 
v/ould  have  done  the  same. 

Se/ge?"\t  Somers  concluded  with  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the 
jury  to  give  his  clients  the  benefit  of  any  doubt  they  might 
entertain — if,  contrary  to  his  belief  and  expectation,  they 
should  entertain  any  doubt — as  to  the  right  of  the  widow  and 
children  to  receive  the  sum  for  which  the  late  Mr.  Prince  had 
assured  his  life,  and  for  which  he  had  honestly  and  regularly 
paid  the  stipulated  consideration. 

When  Sergeant  Somers  sat  down,  the  Attorney-General  got 
up,  and  as  in  duty  bound  made  very  light  of  his  adversary's 
arguments,  even  going  so  far  as  to  protest  that  the  plaintiffs 
had  no  case.  A  great  company  like  the  ^gis,  he  said,  never 
disputed  a  claim  unless  it  were  flagrantly  and  obviously 
unjust,  as  in  the  present  instance.  But  if  they  were  to  admit 
this  claim,  they  might  as  well  make  all  their  policies  absolute 
at  once,  and  let  their  policy-holders  live  where  they  liked, 
even  in  the  most  pestiferous  parts  of  the  earth.  The  license 
was  expressly  for  a  voyage  to  and  from  Trinidad,  and  the 
perils  incident  thereto.  It  included  a  residence  in  the  island 
for  a  limited  time,  and,  of  course,  all  that  "  residence  "  in  the 
ordinary  acceptation  of  the  word  fairly  implied.  His  clients 
had  no  wish  to  construe  this  condition  in  any  narrow  sense. 
If  Mr.  Prince  had  lost  his  life  while  voyaging  in  Trinidadian 
waters  they  should  have  paid  the  sum  for  which  it  was 
assured  without  demur.  But  the  Attorney-General  called  the 
particular  attention  of  the  jury  to  the  fact  that  the  license 
did  not  cover  the  perils  incident  to  a  voyage  in  Venezuelan 
waters,  and  a  landing,  voluntary  or  involuntary,  on  the 
Venezuelan  coast. 

If  it  were  competent  for  Mr.  Prince  under  his  license  to  go 
to  one  part  of  Venezuela  it  was  competent  for  him  to  go  to 
all  parts,  and  some  parts  of  that  country  were  amongst  the 
most  unhealthy  in  the  world. 

This  would  be  practically  converting  a  conditional  license 
into  an  all-world  policy,  and  the  correspondence  between  the 
Secretary  and  Mr.  Edward  Prince  (which  he  proceeded  to 
read)  showed  that  the  company's  oft'er  to  make  it  an  all- 
world  policy  on  very  moderate  terms  was  distinctly  declined. 
In  taking  this  course  Mr.  Edward  Prince  had  clearly  made 
a  grievous  mistake  ;  he  had  been  penny  wise  and  pound 


THE  riUNCES  OF  PEELE.  185 

foolish,  but  it  would  be  hard  indeed  to  visit  on  the  company 
the  unwisdom  of  a  policy-holder.  If  there  were  any  element 
of  doubt  in  the  case,  he,  the  learned  counsel,  would  be  the 
first  to  urge  the  jury  to  give  the  plaintiffs  the  benefit  of  it ; 
but  there  was  none,  not  a  scintilla,  and  he  besought  the  jury, 
as  men  of  business  and  the  world,  to  render  a  verdict  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  equity  and  the  dictates  of 
common-sense. 

The  judge's  summing  up  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
defendants.  He  cautioned  the  jury  not  to  let  their  natural 
feeling  for  Mrs.  Prince  and  her  sons,  and  the  common  preju- 
dice against  wealthy  corporations,  either  warp  their  judgments 
or  influence  their  verdict.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  construe 
a  contract  as  set  forth  on  the  policy  on  Mr.  Prince's  life,  and 
the  license  for  the  voyage  to  Trinidad  ;  both  of  v/hich  he  read 
and  commented  upon  in  some  detail.  If  the  jury  were  of 
opinion  that  a  license  for  a  voyage  to  Trinidad  and  the  perils 
incident  thereto  included  a  voyage  to  Venezuela  and  its 
incidental  dangers,  they  would  give  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiffs, 
if  not,  their  verdict  would  be  for  the  defendants. 

After  a  short  deliberation  the  foreman  of  the  jury  informed 
the  Judge  that  they  had  found  for  the  defendants. 

"  It  was  your  refusal  to  make  the  policy  '  all-world,'  that 
did  the  mischief,"  whispered  Sergeant  Somers  to  Edward 
Prince.  "  In  the  face  of  that,  I  really  don't  see  how  they 
could  have  come  to  any  other  conclusion." 

The  Attorney-General,  who  had  been  conferring  with  the 
company's  Solicitor  and  Secretary,  asked  and  obtained  per- 
mission to  make  a  statement  before  the  jury  separated.  The 
directors  had  instructed  him  to  say  that,  in  the  event  of  the 
verdict  being  in  their  favor,  they  would  not  ask  for  their 
costs,  and  he,  on  his  part,  should  advise  them  to  pay  to  Mr. 
Prince's  executors  the  surrender  value  of  his  interest  in  the 
policy  at  the  time  he  went  abroad,  either  in  cash,  or  in  the 
shape  of  a  reduced  premium,  should  the  sons  decide  to  con- 
tinue the  policy  on  their  joint  lives." 

"  Very  liberal,  very  liberal  indeed,"  observed  the  judge  ; 
and  murmurs  of  approval  were  heard  in  the  jury  box  and 
echoed  in  the  bar. 

"That's  two  for  themselves  and  one  for  you,"  observed 
Sergeant  Somers  to  his  client.  "  It  would  be  a  shame  if  they 
kept  all  those  premiums  and  gave  nothing  in  return.     They 


1 86  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

could  not  do  less,  and  this  public  announcement  of  their 
liberality  will  get  into  the  papers  and  be  a  splendid  adver- 
tisement for  them." 

Edward  made  some  sort  of  a  reply — he  hardly  knew  what 
— and  the  sergeant,  seeing  that  his  client  was  indisposed  for 
conversation,  said  no  more — to  his  client's  great  relief.  For 
Edward  was  terribly  disappointed.  He  had  hoped  against 
hope,  and  to  the  very  last  believed  that  they  should  win. 
Now,  the  scales  were  fallen  from  his  eyes,  and  he  saw  that  he 
had  been  living  in  a  fool's  paradise  from  the  first — worse 
still,  that  public  opinion  at  Peele  would  hold  him  responsible 
for  the  result.  People  would  say  that  to  save  a  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  he  had  thrown  away  fifteen  thousand. 

The  Attorney-General's  taunt  cut  him  to  the  quick.  It 
wounded  him  in  his  most  sensitive  part — his  self-esteem — he 
felt  the  imputation  all  the  more  keenly  that  it  was  entirely 
undeserved,  and  he  could  not  resent  it  as  publicly  as  it  vv'as 
made.  He  had  not  made  a  mistake.  He  had  acted  on 
sound  business  principles.  The  veriest  fool  could  be  wise 
after  the  event.  What  would  have  been  the  good  of  making 
the  policy  "  all-world  "  when  his  father  proposed  to  go  only 
to  Trinidad  ?  The  fault  was  his  father's.  But  for  his  father's 
fatal  indiscretion,  all  would  have  been  well.  Unfortunately, 
however,  this  was  a  line  of  defence  he  could  not  undertake 
without  incurring  the  reproach  of  disrespect  for  his  father's 
memory  :  and  at  Peele  respect  for  that  memory  was  an  article 
of  faith. 

"  Well,  I  must  just  grin  and  bear  it — and  alone,  too,"  he 
thought  bitterly.  "  Mother  is  very  trying — she  won't  listen 
to  reason — and  Charlie  is  as  happy  as  the  day  is  long,  con- 
found him.  However,  that  is  nearly  over.  When  he  learns 
the  secret  and  executes  the  deed  of  appointment  his  immu- 
nity will  cease.  We  shall  both  be  in  the  same  boat  then,  and 
he  will  have  to  do  as  he  is  told.  But  what  is  to  be  done  next .'' 
That  is  the  question." 

To  which  question  Edward  promptly  addressed  himself, 
and,  being  a  man  of  energy  and  resource,  was  not  long  in 
deciding  on  a  plan  of  action.  When  he  had  done  thinking 
he  wrote  to  his  mother  apprising  her  of  the  result  of  the 
trial,  which  he  ascribed  to  the  one-sided  and  almost  malig- 
nant summing  up  of  the  judge.  Yet  though  it  was  a  terrible 
misfortune,  he  implored  her  not  to  be  cast  down.     The  secret 


THE  PRIiVCES  OF  PEELE. 


1S7 


was  still  intact,  there  was  not  the  least  reason  to  fear  expos- 
ure, and  he  had  thought  of  a  scheme  which  would  enable 
them  to  meet  the  difficulty  arising  out  of  the  loss  of  the  insur- 
ance money.  Of  this  he  should  give  her  full  particulars  on 
his  return  ;  business  of  importance  would  keep  him  in  London 
another  day.  He  wrote  in  the  same  sense  to  his  brother, 
omitting,  however,  any  reference  to  the  secret  and  the 
scheme. 

Edward's  object  in  remaining  in  town  was  to  avoid  break- 
ing the  bad  news  to  his  mother  in  person.  He  thought  that 
by  the  time  he  got  home  she  would  have  recovered  somewhat 
from  the  shock,  and  spare  him  the  reproaches  in  which  she 
might  otherwise  have  indulged. 

In  this  he  was  not  disappointed.  He  found  his  mother  look- 
ing pale  and  stern  indeed*;  and  the  dark  circles  round  her 
eyes  told  of  a  sleepless  night,  but  she  was  quite  composed, 
and,  as  it  might  seem,  in  a  reasonable  frame  of  mind. 

"What  is  your  plan  ?  "  she  asked  abruptly.  "  I  want  to 
know  nothing  more  of  this  iniquitous  trial.  Let  us  not  talk 
about  it — your  plan  .'  " 

Edward's  plan  was  to  surrender  the  policy  out  and  out 
and  get  all  they  could  from  the  company.  There  was  no 
object  to  be  gained  by  keeping  up  the  policy  on  Charlie's 
life  and  his  own.  They  were  both  young  and  likely  to  sur- 
vive Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  the  payment  of  the  premiums  was  a 
heavy  drain.  He  had  seen  Mr.  Cutter,  and  the  company 
were  disposed  to  deal  fairly  with  them.  The  full  surrender 
value,  reckoned  on  a  liberal  scale,  would  probably  amount  to 
fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  pounds.  As  to  this,  he 
should  hear  further  from  the  Secretary  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days. 

The  sum  recovered  from  the  company  would  form  the 
nucleus  of  a  fund  for  the  liquidation  of  the  liability  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  trust.  Meanwhile,  the  money  could  be  used  for 
temporary  advances  to  clients  at  a  high  rate  of  interest, 
thereby  bringing  grist  to  the  mill  both  directly  and  indi- 
rectly. Edward  had  also  a  plan  for  notably  increasing  the 
profits  of  the  office,  and  he  thought,  by  limiting  their  draw- 
ings and  living  carefully,  they  might  wipe  off  the  debt  in 
seven  or  eight  years.  In  all  probability  an  over  sanguine 
estimate  ;  but  besides  being  as  ignorant  of  figures  as  women 
generally  are,  Mrs.  Prince  was  just  then  too  anxious  to  be 
critical. 


1 88  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Thank  God  !  It  is  not  so  bad  as  I  feared,"  she  said  with 
a  sigh  of  relief,  and  the  care-worn  face  lost  some  of  its 
gloom. 

"  How  clever  you  are,  dear  !  I  like  your  plan  ;  it  seems  so 
practical.  We  must  all  economize.  I  think  I  can  keep 
house  on  my  marriage  settlement  and  the  five  hundred  a 
year ;  so  that  you  and  Charlie  will  only  need  to  take  from  the 
business  what  you  require  for  your  personal  expenses.  In 
seven  years,  you  say  ?  " 

"  Seven  or  eight — with  ordinary  luck." 

**  Of  course.  And  as  Charlie  is  to  be  your  co-trustee, 
nobody  will  know  anything — the  secret  will  be  kept  in  the 
family." 

"  Exactly.  And  if  I  happen  to  be  ill  or  away  from  home 
when  Mrs.  Lincoln's  dividends  fall  due  Charlie  can  do  what 
is  necessary." 

"  You  will  tell  him  then  ?  " 

"  Of  course.  There  is  nothing  else  for  it,  he  is  my  partner. 
Without  his  consent  I  can  neither  surrender  the  policv  nor 
go  on  paying  Mrs.  Lincoln  her  interest." 

"  Poor  boy !  I  would  have  spared  him  a  little  longer," 
murmured  Mrs.  Prince  sadly.  "  It  is  a  terrible  weight  to 
lay  on  his  young  shoulders,  Edward." 

"  Well,  they  are  pretty  strong  shoulders  ;  and  it  is  quite 
time  for  him  to  learn  the  family  secret  and  help  in  carrying 
the  family  burden,"  returned  Edward. 

"  The  family  secret,"  said  Mrs.  Prince  with  a  slight  shud- 
der, and  in  a  low,  intense  voice.  "  Do  you  know,  dear,  I 
sometimes  think  it  has  been  the  family  curse  ?  But  for  it 
your  father  would  never  have  gone  to  the  West  Indies.  See 
what  trouble  it  has  caused  you  !  It  has  lain  on  my  mind 
like  lead  all  these  years — and  now  Charlie — yet  we  acted  for 
the  best.  It  was  impossible  to  let  Jack  be  prosecuted.  The 
disgrace  would  have  been  more  than  I  could  bear,  and  utterly 
ruined  your  prospects.  We  should  have  had  to  leave  Peele. 
I  would  do  the  same  again,  Edward.  When  shall  you  tell 
Charles  ?  " 

"  Let  me  see  !  We  go  to  Whitebeach  next  Friday.  I  will 
tell  him  the  day  before." 

''  Poor  boy  !  Break  it  as  gently  as  you  can.  It  will  be  a 
great  shock  to  him,  and  a  heavy  burden  afterwards.  He  is 
very  like  his  father,  sensitive  on  the  point  of  honor." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  189 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A  FAMILY  DIFFERENCE. 

On  the  following  Thursday  the  brothers  were  in  the  room 
at  Holmcroft,  once  their  father's,  where  they  wrote  and 
smoked,  kept  their  fishing-tackle  and  fowling-pieces,  and 
used  generally  as  a  bachelors'  den.  They  had  just  dined  ; 
their  mother  was  in  the  drawing-room.  Both  were  smoking 
Ned  a  cigarette,  Charlie  a  briar-root  pipe. 

Charlie,  looking  forward  to  seeing  Olive  on  the  morrow, 
was  in  high  spirits,  all  the  more  so  as  Ned,  owing  to  an  un- 
expected demand  for  his  presence  at  some  committee  meet- 
ing (he  had  succeeded  to  all  his  father's  appointments)  could 
not  leave  for  Whitebeach  before  Saturday.  Wherefore, 
Charlie,  as  he  hoped  and  confidently  believed,  would  have 
his  sweetheart  pretty  nearly  all  to  himself  for  the  greater 
part  of  two  days. 

But  Edward,  vexed  at  having  to  stay  behind,  and  surmis- 
ing the  cause  of  his  brother's  brightness,  was  in  an  evil 
temper,  and  his  thoughts  were  not  pleasant. 

"You  have  got  the  deed  of  appointment,  I  suppose  ?  "  he 
said,  d, propos  of  nothing  in  particular. 

"  It  is  in  my  bag." 

"  Mrs.  Lincoln  knows  you  will  accept  ?  " 

"  Of  course.     Didn't  we  both  write  to  her  ?  " 

"  Well,  as  you  are  to  be  my  co-trustee — I  have  something 
to  tell  you,  Charlie — something  very  important." 

"  All  right,  old  man.     Go  ahead  !  " 

"  Pray  be  serious.     It  is  no  laughing  matter,  I  assure  you." 

"  I  was  not  laughing." 

"  At  any  rate,  you  smiled." 

"  How  long  has  it  been  a  sin  to  smile  ?  I  smiled  because 
you  looked  so  glum." 

"  I  look  glum,  do  I  ?  So  would  you — what  I  have  to  tell 
you  is  something  in  which  you,  like  mother  and  myself,  are 
deeply  concerned.     It  is  a  family  secret,  long  kept  back  from 


190 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


you,  first  by  father's  wish,  since  by  mother's,  for  your  own 
good  ;  but  things  have  happened  which  render  it  imperative 
that  you  should  be  told." 

"  Go  on,  I  am  all  attention,"  said  Charlie,  sobering  down 
and  looking  serious. 

"  Before  I  go  on  I  must  ask  you  not  to  reveal  or  hint  to 
anybody,  directly  or  indirectly,  what  I  am  about  to  tell  you." 

"  As  it  is  a  family  secret,  that  goes  without  saying.  I  give 
you  my  word  to  keep  it  inviolate.'' 

"  Well,  it  concerns  Mrs.  Lincoln's  trust.  There  is  nothing 
in  it." 

"  Nothing  in  it !     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Money.     There  is  no  money  in  it." 

Charlie  looked  quite  bewildered. 

"  But — why — how  ? "  he  stammered.  "  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
money  is  in  Consols,  and  she  gets  her  dividends  regularly.  I 
have  seen  the  receipts.     You  are  chaffing,  after  all." 

"  Chaffing  !  This  is  too  serious  a  matter  for  chaff,  Charlie. 
I  tell  you  Mrs.  Lincoln's  settled  fortune  is  non-existent.  It 
is  gone — vanished — though  Mrs.  Lincoln  does  not  know  it." 

"  Gone  !     How  t  " 

"  Father  sold  out  the  stock  and  used  the  proceeds  to  square 
those  Liverpool  people,  when  Jack  robbed  them  and  ran 
away." 

"  But  that  was — a  breach  of  trust,"  exclaimed  Charlie, 
aghast. 

"  Of  course  it  was,  but  it  was  either  that  or  letting  Jack  be 
prosecuted  for  embezzlement  and  forgery — to  the  tune  of 
nearly  twenty  thousand  pounds — which  would  have  meant 
penal  servitude  for  him  and  a  fearful  disgrace  for  the  family. 
We  should  have  had  to  leave  Peele.  Not  that  I  approve  of 
what  father  did.  I  would  have  let  Jack  hang  before  I  would 
have  used  trust  money,  and  saddled  myself  with  that  huge 
liability,  and  risked  unspeakable  consequences.  I  did  not 
know  of  it  till  afterwards." 

The  young  fellow  bowed  his  head,  and  his  heart  sank 
within  him.  His  idol  was  overthrown.  The  father  whom 
he  had  so  deeply  loved  and  revered,  whom  he  had  always 
regarded  as  a  model  and  exemplar  of  every  manly  and 
Christian  virtue,  that  father  had  committed  an  act  of  delib- 
erate dishonesty  and  violated  the  trust  reposed  in  him  by  a 
friend,  and   that  friend  a  woman.     And  then,  remembering 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


191 


his  essentially  noble  nature  and  high  sense  of  honor,  and 
that  memorable  conversation  on  the  way  to  Southampton,  he 
realized  how  intensely  his  father  must  have  suffered,  how 
terrible  had  been  the  temptation  to  which  he  yielded,  and 
pitied  him  with  all  his  soul.     His  poor  father  ! 

"  It  was  to  provide  for  restitution  of  the  trust  fund  that 
father  insured  his  life,"  observed  Edward,  after  a  long  pause, 
which  Charlie  did  not  seem  disposed  to  terminate.  '*  The 
trial  was  a  terrible  blow.  I  really  durst  not  face  mother  with 
the  news.  That  was  why  I  stayed  in  London  another  day. 
But  she  bears  up  bravely,  much  better  than  I  expected." 

"  My  God  !  What  shall  we  do,  then  >.  We  have  not  fifteen 
thousand  pounds." 

"  Nor  anything  like  it.  We  must  keep  it  quiet,  go  on  as 
we  have  been  doing,  and  wipe  off  the  debt  as  best  we  can." 

And  then  Edward  explained  his  plan,  and  showed  Charlie 
the  calculations  on  which  it  was  based. 

"  I  told  mother  we  could  pay  it  in  seven  or  eight  years — 
that  was  to  keep  her  quiet,  she  worries  so — but  if  we  can  do 
it  in  nine  or  ten,  without  crippling  ourselves  overmuch,  I 
shall  be  very  glad." 

"  And  meanwhile  ?  " 

"  Meanwhile  ?  "  repeated  Edward  snappishly.  "  Don't  you 
see  .-•  Didn't  I  say  that  we  must  go  on  as  usual,  pay  Mrs. 
Lincoln  her  dividends  as  they  fall  due,  and  keep  our  own 
counsel  ?  " 

**  And  execute  the  deed  of  appointment,  and  make  believe 
that  the  principal  sum  is  intact  and  invested  in  Government 
stock.?" 

"  Exactly.  I  think,  though,  you  might  have  put  it  a  little 
less  bluntly." 

"  Well,  you  may  do  as  you  please,  but  as  for  me,  I  .shall  not 
be  a  party  to  the — deed." 

"  The  devil  you  won't  !  " 

"  I  shall  not  accept  the  appointment  unless  Mrs.  Lincoln 
is  first  informed  of  the  facts.  She  is  a  good  woman  ;  she 
won't  be  hard,  she  will  give  us  time." 

"  Oh,  this  is  the  most  infernal  nonsense  I  ever  heard,"  ex- 
claimed Edward,  impatiently.  "  What  has  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
goodness  to  do  with  it }  You  cannot  bind  her  to  secrecy ; 
indeed,  I  doubt  whether  she  can  keep  a  secret.  She  would 
tell  tAvo  or  three  other  women — in  strict  confidence — and  it 


192  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

would  be  all  over  Peele  in  a  week.  Besides,  I  told  her  dis- 
tinctly that  her  money  was  still  in  the  '  three  per  cents.' — I 
could  not  help  it,  she  asked  me — and  mother  would  rather  die 
than  give  her  consent." 

"  All  the  same,  Ned — No,  the  deception  would  be  too  gross. 
I  will  do  anything  in  reason,  but  put  my  name  to  a  statement 
which  I  know  to  be  untrue !  That  I  cannot  do,  to  please 
anybody." 

Edward  was  getting  very  angry.  His  brother's  refusal  to 
accept  the  trusteeship  was  the  last  thing  he  expected. 

"  So  that  is  the  line  you  take,  eh  t  "  he  said,  sneeringly. 
"  You  have  a  higher  sense  of  honor  than  the  rest  of  the  family, 
and  yet  you  won't  stretch  a  point  to  save  the  family  from  dis- 
grace. I  suppose  you  think  I  am  quite  capable  either  of  tell- 
ing a  lie  or  signing  a  false  statement .-'  " 

"  And  if  I  do  think  so  I  only  judge  you  out  of  your  own 
mouth,"  returned  Charlie  whose  temper  his  brother's  inso- 
lence had  thoroughly  roused.  "  Didn't  }'ou  say  just  now  you 
had  told  Mrs.  Lincoln  that  her  fortune  was  still  in  the  three 
per  cents  .''     What  do  you  call  that .-"  " 

Edward  now  almost  beside  himself,  sprang  to  his  feet.  "  If 
we  weren't  brothers  you  should  smart  for  this,"  he  exclaimed 
fiercely. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Charlie,  also  rising. 

"  What  do  I  mean  ?     I  mean  that  I  should  thrash  you." 

"  You  couldn't,  Ned.  I  am  stronger  than  you,  and  you 
were  never  much  of  a  fighter."  Though  excited  and  angry, 
Charlie  was  much  cooler  than  his  senior.  "  But  we  are 
brothers,  and  it  is  wicked  to  quarrel  in  this  way." 

"  Why  did  you  insult  me,  then  .-*  " 

"  Why  did  you  t " 

At  this  point  the  door  opened,  and  Mrs.  Prince  came  in. 

"  Haven't  you  done  smoking  ?"  she  began,  and  then  seeing 
that  something  was  wrong,  stopped  short.  "  Why — what — 
you  are  standing  up  ;  you  both  look  pale  and  angry,"  she 
went  on.  "  Surely  you  have  not  been  quarrelling  "i  How 
was  it  ?     What  is  it  about .''  " 

"  Ask  Charlie,"  said  Edward. 

"  Ask  Ned,"  said  Charlie. 

"  You  are  the  elder,  Edward  ;  I  ask  you." 

"  I  told  him  about  that — as  we  agreed — and  now  he  won't 
accept  the  appointment,  and  refuses  to  sign  the  deed." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


193 


Mrs.  Prince's  countenance  darkened. 

"  Is  this  so,  Charlie  ?  "  she  demanded  sternly. 

"  I  don't  think  it  would  be  right,  mother — unless  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln is  told." 

"  Tell  Mrs.  Lincoln  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Prince,  aghast ; 
"  tell  Mrs.  Lincoln  !     Are  you  mad,  boy  1     Do  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  know.  Ned  has  told  me  everything.  Let  us  do 
the  right  thing,  mother.  We  shall  never  have  a  better  chance. 
Jack  is  far  away,  poor  father  gone — forever.  We  can  explain 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln  how,  but  for  the  loss  of  the  trial,  which  is 
no  fault  of  ours,  the  money,  used  under  the  stress  of  a  great 
emergency,  would  have  been  restored  ;  and  proposes  to  make 
it  good  by  instalments,  as  Ned  says — of  course  paying  the 
interest  regularly  in  the  meantime.  I  am  sure  she  will  agree 
and  think  all  the  better  of  us  for  our  honesty  and  frankness 
and  keep  our  secret.  And  think  what  a  weight  it  would  be 
off  your  mind,  mother  !  " 

Mrs.  Prince  seemed  to  hesitate.  Charlie's  appeal  had 
evidently  made  an  impression. 

"  What  do  you  think,  Edward  ?  "  she  said,  turning  to  her 
elder  son. 

If  his  mother  had  been  simply  a  client  and  himself  disin- 
terested Edward  would  doubtless  have  urged  her  to  follow 
Charlie's  advice.  But  he  had  told  Mrs.  Lincoln  that  her 
fortune  was  intact ;  and  the  disclosure  must  needs  lower  him 
in  that  lady's  estimation — and  Olive's,  and  exalt  his  brother, 
who  would  shine  as  the  only  immaculate  member  of  the 
family.     Anything  were  better  than  that. 

"  I  cannot  agree  with  Charlie  ;  I  wish  I  could,"  he  said 
earnestly,  and  in  his  usual  self-contained  manner.  "  It  would 
simplify  matters  immensely,  as  he  says,  and  take  a  great 
weight  off  your  mind— and  mine.  But  how  do  we  know  that 
Mrs.  Lincoln  would  undertake  to  keep  the  matter  secret,  and 
whether,  though  she  did,  she  could  ?  In  her  annoyance— 
and  she  is  sure  to  be  more  or  less  annoyed — she  might  let  out 
whatever  we  confide  to  her — and  we  shall  have  to  tell  every- 
thing. There  can  be  no  half  confidence.  And  as  for  giving 
us  time  to  pay  up — isn't  it  at  least  on  the  cards — in  my  opinion 
it  is  almost  certain  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  change  her 
mind  about  appointing  Charlie  and  me  ?  And  whomsoever 
else  she  might  appoint  would  be  in  duty  bound  to  enforce 
immediate  restitution  of  the  trust  fund  by  all  the  means  in 

13 


194 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


their  power.  Unless  I  am  mistaken,  mother,  you  and  I  as 
father's  executors,  could  be  made  personally  responsible  ;  the 
office  would  be  broken  up  ;  I  should  lose  my  appointments,  and 
if  the  new  trustees  were  hostile — which  is  quite  possible — the 
estate  might  have  to  be  wound  up  in  bankruptcy  also." 

"  That  is  quite  enough,  Edward,"  cried  Mrs.  Prince, 
appalled  by  this  catalogue  of  contingent  calamities,  "  you 
need  say  no  more.  Mrs.  Lincoln  must  not  be  told,  and  you 
must  accept  the  trusteeship,  Charles." 

"  I  cannot,  mother.  I  don't  presume  to  judge  you  ;  but 
from  my  point  of  view  it  would  not  be  right." 

"  Would  it  be  right  to  besmirch  your  father's  name  and 
drag  Edward  and  me  into  the  Bankruptcy  Court  ?  That  is 
the  alternative.  It  cannot  be  wrong  to  obey  your  mother, 
and  I  ask  you  to  do  this  for  my  sake,  if  not  for  your  own. 
I  will  take  the  responsibility." 

It  was  hard  to  withstand  his  mother,  but  the  young  fellow, 
recalling  his  father's  parting  counsel,  given,  as  it  might 
appear,  in  view  of  the  very  eventuality  which  was  now  come 
to  pass,  repeated  his  refusal. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  ;  you  distress  me  beyond  measure,  but  I 
cannot,  I  really  cannot.  I  would  rather  lose  my  right  hand 
than  sign  that  deed  without  telling  Mrs.  Lincoln." 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  do  you  want  to  break  my  heart  ? "  and  with 
that  Mrs.  Prince  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  laying 
her  head  on  his  shoulder  fell  a-weeping. 

No  wonder  Charlie  wavered  and  showed  hesitation,  which 
his  mother  quickly  perceiving  redoubled  her  efforts,  not 
commanding,  but  entreating  and  beseeching. 

"  My  dear  boy,  my  own  Charlie,  don't  be  so  hard.  Your 
acceptance  of  the  trusteeship  is  the  only  way  of  preventing 
disaster  and  disgrace.  I  am  getting  into  years,  these  troubles 
are  telling  on  me.  I  should  die,  Charlie,  and  oh,  to  think  of 
it,  you  would  be  the  cause." 

Charlie  kissed  his  mother  tenderly  ;  and  it  was  evident 
that,  for  the  moment  at  least,  he  was  silenced,  if  not  van- 
quished. 

"  It  is  all  right  ;  he  will  do  as  you  wish,"  interposed 
Edward.  "  He  would  not  let  me  dictate  to  him  just  now, 
and  quite  right,  too.  I  lost  my  temper.  I  am  sorry  if  I  hurt 
you,  old  fellow,  but  we  will  say  no  more  about  it,  and  let 
bygones  be  bygones.     Com.e,  I  v,  ill   take  you  to  your  room, 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


195 


mother.  You  must  lie  down,  or  you  will  have  a  headache 
after  all  this  excitement." 

"  Let  bygones  be  bygones  !  "  murmured  Charlie  bitterly, 
when  they  were  gone.  "  Does  he  mean  it,  I  wonder  ?  If  he  had 
not  frightened  mother  with  his  exaggerations  she  would  have 
agreed  to  my  proposal.  Oh,  why  didn't  I  stand  to  my  guns  "i 
They  may  say  what  they  like,  but  it  would  be  an  infamy  to 
sign  that  deed  and  keep  Mrs.  Lincoln  in  the  dark." 

Again  Charlie  recalled  his  father's  words  almost  the  last 
he  had  heard  from  his  lips  :  "  If  you  have  any  doubt,  give  con- 
science the  benefit  of  it.  ,  .  .  You  will  be  glad  afterwards, 
for  you  w'ill  have  nothing  to  reproach  yourself  with,  and  right 
can  never  be  wrong,  nor  wrong  right." 

"  Which  is  it  to  be  ?  "  he  asked  himself.  "  Shall  I  obey 
my  father  and  do  right,  or  my  mother  and  do  wrong  ?  " 

"  I  had  no  idea  Charlie  would  prove  so  restive  and  stubborn. 
He  has  always  been  so  easy-tempered  and  obedient,"  observed 
Mrs.  Prince  to  her  elder  son  as  they  passed  to  her  room. 

"  Well,  he  surprised  me,  but  it  was  a  good  deal  my  own 
fault.  I  was  out  of  temper  and  rubbed  him  the  wrong  way. 
I  suppose  that  got  his  back  up.  It  was  well  you  tried 
entreaty.     I  tried  the  other  thing  and  it  did  not  answer." 

"  Yet  he  did  not  say  he  would  sign  the  deed,  after  all." 

"  He  did  not  say  he  would  not,  and  that  comes  to  the  same 
thing.  Silence  gives  consent.  Take  for  granted  that  he  will 
and  say  no  more.  And  when  you  come  to  think  about  it,  he 
has  no  alternative.  He  has  promised  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  accept 
the  trust  and  given  me  his  word  not  to  split.  You  need  not 
worry,  mother  ;  he  will  sign  fast  enough  when  it  comes  to  the 
point." 


196  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"at  whitebeac  h." 

When  Charlie  considered  the  alternative  of  compliance 
with  his  mother's  wish  he  saw,  as  Edward  had  seen,  the 
difhculty  of  his  position.  He  was  between  the  devil  and  the 
deep  sea.  To  sign  the  deed  would  be  to  make  himself  par- 
ticipator in  a  fraud,  a  fraud  that,  in  view  of  his  present  and 
prospective  relations  with  the  Lincolns,  would  be  doubly- 
infamous,  which,  were  it  to  come  to  Olive's  knowledge,  she 
never  would  pardon.  On  the  other  hand,  refusal  would 
embroil  him  with  ever3'body.  His  mother  and  brother  would 
overwhelm  him  with  reproaches ;  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  be 
deeply  and  justly  offended,  and  Olive  unappeasable.  It  was 
her  pet  scheme,  a  scheme  on  which  she  had  set  her  heart,  and 
of  which  he  himself  had  warmly  approved. 

How  could  he  get  out  of  it  '^.  What  excuse  could  he  offer  ? 
That  he  was  too  young,  that  the  responsibility  would  be  too 
great  for  him,  that  it  was  inexpedient  for  brothers  to  be 
trustees  under  the  same  settlement  ?  None  of  these  pretexts 
would  hold  water,  and  if  made  would  simply  be  laughed  out 
of  court. 

He  could  not  even  think  of  a  plausible,  harmless  lie,  and  if 
he  did  take  to  lying  he  might  as  well  sign  the  deed  and  have 
done  with  it.  That  would  clearly  be  the  simplest  course  and 
by  far  the  easiest,— if  he  could  forget  honor  and  honesty, 
his  father's  sage  advice  and  his  duty  to  Olive  and  her  mother. 

These  thoughts  kept  Charlie  awake  the  greater  part  of  the 
night,  and  morning  found  him  still  halting  between  two 
opinions,  still  wandering  in  a  maze  of  perplexity  and  indecision. 

When  he  met  his  mother  at  breakfast  no  reference  was 
made  to  the  scene  of  the  night  before.  Mrs.  Prince,  who 
since  her  husband's  death  had  been  subject  to  fits  of  despond- 
ency, was  unusually  cheerful.  Edward  urbane  and  in  good 
spirits.     He  had  received  a  letter  from  the  ^gis  people  to 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  197 

the  effect  that  they  were  prepared  to  pay  two  thousand  pounds 
for  the  surrender  of  the  hfe  poUcy.  This  was  more  than  its 
actuarial  value,  but  for  reasons  which  would  readily  suggest 
themselves  they  were  desirous  to  offer  the  most  liberal  terms 
in  their  power. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  accept  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Prince. 

"  Of  course.  I  shall  write  and  say  so  at  once,  though  as 
we  are  going  away  the  transaction  cannot  be  completed  until 
offer  the  holidays." 

Later  in  the  day  Edward  had  a  characteristically  happy 
thought.  It  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  as  well  try  to  get 
a  little  more.  So  he  wrote  a  polite  letter  to  the  company, 
thanking  them  for  their  offer,  which  he  and  his  brother  were 
disposed  to  accept.  He  would  communicate  with  them 
further  after  the  holidays.  Meanwhile,  he  put  it  to  the 
company  whether,  considering  the  heavy  sums  which  the  late 
Mr.  Prince  had  paid  in  premiums,  and  the  unfortunate 
circumstances  of  his  death,  it  would  not  be  a  graceful  act  on 
their  part  to  meet  all  the  costs  of  the  recent  suit. 

This  drew  a  prompt  and  curt  reply  from  the  Secretary,  to 
the  effect  that  his  directors  declined  to  modify  in  any  sense 
the  terms  which  they  had  proposed,  and  unless  these  were 
formally  accepted  and  the  policy  surrendered  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  week  the  offer  would  be  withdrawn  and  not 
repeated. 

The  Secretary's  letter  followed  Edward  Prince  to  White- 
beach,  and  was  answered  a  few  days  later  in  a  way  which 
took  the  first-named  gentleman's  breath  away  and  gave  his 
directors  a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour. 

Five-and-thirty  years  ago  Whitebeach  had  not  begun  to  be 
popular  ;  it  was  neither  infested  by  cheap  trippers  nor  patro- 
nized by  people  of  fashion.  The  village  consisted  of  a  post- 
office,  an  inn  with  an  ivy-covered  porch,  and  a  dozen  fisher- 
men's and  laborers'  cottages  with  thatched  roofs.  The 
parish  possessed,  further,  three  or  four  farmhouses,  and  half- 
a-dozen  or  so  of  a  better  sort  occupied  by  people  who  pre- 
ferred the  rural  charms  of  \Miitebeach  to  the  rampant  row- 
dyism of  Ramsgate  or  the  ostentatious  vulgarity  of  Brighton. 
There  were  neither  donkey-boys  nor  bathing-vans,  and  trains 
were  so  few  and  far  between  that  the  station-master  had  time 
to  cultivate  roses,  and  his  garden  was  one  of  the  sights  of  the 
place. 


igS  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

When  the  Princes  arrived  at  Whitebeach  station,  they  were 
greeted,  rather  to  their  surprise,  by  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her 
daughter. 

"  So  kind  of  you  to  meet  us,"  said  Mrs.  Prince,  as  she  ex- 
changed kisses  with  her  hostess. 

"  So  good  of  you  to  come,"  murmured  Charlie  as  he  shook 
hands  with  Olive. 

"  We  are  so  quiet  here  that  the  arrival  of  visitors  is  an 
event  of  which  we  naturally  make  the  most,"  said  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln. "  Sometimes  we  come  down  merely  to  see  who  is  com- 
ing or  going.  The  phaeton  is  outside.  We  can  either  drive 
round  by  the  road  or  go  by  the  footpath,  an  easy  walk  of  a 
mile  or  so." 

"  The  footpath,  by  all  means,  I  feel  quite  cramped  with 
sitting  so  long,"  returned  Mrs.  Prince. 

Charlie  also  elected  for  the  footpath,  the  bags  and  rugs 
were  deposited  in  the  phaeton  and  the  Lincolns  and  their 
guests  climbed  a  rustic  stile  by  the  roadside  and  took  to  the 
fields.  The  day  was  perfect,  the  way  delightful — now  pass- 
ing over  a  daisy-pied  meadow,  now  through  a  field  of  waving 
corn,  anon  dipping  into  a  glade,  where  a  gurgling  stream, 
crossed  by  a  moss-grown  bridge,  flowed  gently  between  the 
entwined  boughs  of  overhanging  trees.  Larks  were  carolling 
in  the  sun,  swift-winged  swallows  chasing  in  graceful  fiight 
their  tiny  prey ;  and  a  quiet  sea  breeze  wafted  inland  the 
odor  of  pine  woods  and  the  perfume  of  flowers. 

Albeit  still  preoccupied  and  perplexed,  Charlie  Prince 
could  not  be  insensible  to  the  subtle  mfluence  of  these  sights 
and  sounds,  so  propitious  to  enjoyment  and  love.  The 
brightness  of  the  day,  the  beauty  of  the  landscape,  and  the 
presence  of  his  sweetheart  were  not  long  in  conjuring  away 
his  cares.  Before  they  were  over  the  first  field  he  had  be- 
come talkative  and  gay. 

For  prudential  reasons  the  lovers  made  no  attempt  to 
"  pair  off,"  and  in  obedience  to  a  whispered  hint  from  Olive 
the  young  fellow  devoted  himself  more  assiduously  to  the 
elder  ladies  than  to  INIiss  Lincoln.  He  was  especially  atten- 
tive to  her  mother,  she  to  his  ;  and  though  two  of  the  party 
were  burdened  with  a  portentous  secret  all  seemed  to  be  in 
high  spirits  and  unapprehensive  of  impending  trouble. 

"  There !  That  is  our  house,  or  rather  the  house  we  Xwo. 
in,"  said  Mrs.  Lincoln,  as  they  emerged  from   a  clump   of 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


'99 


trees  which  for  the  last  few  minutes  had  obscured  the 
view. 

"  And  you  call  it?  "  asked  Mrs.  Prince. 

"  The  Pines." 

A  red  brick  house  with  a  tiled  roof,  mellowed  with  age, 
many-gabled,  and  built  on  a  hillside.  Above  it,  terraced 
gardens  and  shrubberies,  and,  higher  still,  a  dark  pine  wood. 
A  little  to  the  left  a  break  in  the  cliffs  and  an  almost  land- 
locked cove,  with  fishing  boats  drawn  up  on  the  beach,  and  a 
small  yacht  riding  at  anchor. 

"  How  lovely !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Prince  with  effusion. 
"  Edward  said  Whitebeach  was  nice,  but  I  had  no  idea  it  was 
so  charming  as  this." 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  is  very  nice  and  lovely,  also  lonely,  not  to  say 
dull,"  observed  Mrs.  Lincoln  dryly.  "  For  my  part,  I  like  a 
little  society.  At  present  the  place  seems  to  be  inhabited 
chiefly  by  women.  Except  the  fisher  folk  and  Mr.  Oldbury, 
the  Rector,  we  don't  see  a  man  in  a  blue  moon.  I  am  sorry 
Edward  could  not  come  with  you.  But  he  will  be  here  to- 
morrow, you  say  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  I  hope  early — if  he  can  get  away.  He  is  de- 
tained by  town's  business,  which  he  cannot  possibly  do  by 
deputy — and  he  always  puts  business  before  pleasure." 

"  And  quite  right,  too.  It  is  the  way  to  get  on.  By-the- 
bye,  I  hope  he  has  found  time  to  prepare  the  deed  of  appoint- 
ment." 

"  Oh  dear,  yes.  Charlie  has  it  in  his  bag.  It  can  be 
signed  to-morrow." 

"  There  is  no  hurry.  It  will  do  any  time  before  the  gentle- 
men go,  and  I  hope  they  will  stay  as  long  as  they  can.  As 
for  you,  Mrs.  Prince,  I  shall  keep  you  for  a  fortnight,  at  least 
— longer,  if  your  sons  can  spare  you." 

Mrs.  Prince,  whose  cue  it  was  to  be  "  all  things  "  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  smiled  pleasantly  and  said  she  would  be  very  glad — 
if  her  hostess  could  do  with  her. 

"  Do  with  you,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Lincoln.  "  I  shall  be 
grateful  to  you.  Why,  we  are  sometimes  so  dull  that  I  have 
sometimes  thought  of  advertising  for  a  brace  of  rattles." 

Mrs.  Prince  turned  pale.     Rattles  suggested  burglars. 

"  Rattles !  Yes,  it  is  very  lonely  here,  as  you  say.  But  I 
should  think  night  catches  and  electric  bells  would  be  a 
better  protection  than  rattles." 


200  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Bless  you  !  I  didn't  mean  wooden  rattles.  I  meant  a 
brace  of  lively  American  girls  who  could  go  on  talking  till 
further  orders,  play  and  sing  whenever  they  were  asked,  take 
a  hand  at  whist,  and  make  themselves  generally  useful  and 
always  agreeable." 

Whereupon  everybody  laughed,  but  Charlie's  laugh  was 
forced,  and  he  felt  sure  it  sounded  hollow.  The  mention  of 
the  deed  had  sent  his  spirits  down  to  zero  again,  and  for  a  few 
minutes  thereafter  he  was  so  sombre  and  silent  that  Olive 
asked  him,  as  he  helped  her  over  a  stile,  what  he  was  dream- 
ing about. 

"  You,"  he  whispered,  and  truly,  for  the  question  which 
most  troubled  him  was  what  she  would  say  when  he  told  her 
(if  he  did  tell  her)  that  he  must  decline  to  become  her  mother's 
trustee. 

Olive,  smiling  archly,  suggested  that  if  thinking  about  her 
made  him  look  so  dismal  he  had  better  think  about  some- 
thing else,  on  which  Charlie  laughed,  as  in  duty  bound,  and 
pulling  himself  together,  made  a  not  unsuccessful  effort  to 
look  pleasant. 

When  they  reached  the  house  luncheon  was  ready.  The 
meal  over,  Mrs.  Lincoln  suggested  that  Mrs.  Prince  should  lie 
down  for  a  while, 

"  I  am  sure  you  must  be  tired,"  she  said;  "  and  when  you 
are  rested  we  will  go  out  for  a  drive.  What  will  you  do, 
Charlie?" 

"  Explore." 

"  You  mean  look  round  the  place,"  added  Mrs,  Lincoln, 
after  a  moment's  thought.  "  But  you  won't  know How- 
ever, I  dare  say  Olive  will  go  with  you — will  you,  Olive  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  mother." 

"  You  must  not  be  long,  though.  I  have  ordered  the 
carriage  for  three  o'clock." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  did  not  make  this  proposal  very  heartily  ; 
but  hospitality  has  its  duties  ;  she  could  not  do  the  honors 
herself  without  missing  her  afternoon  nap,  and  it  was  only 
for  once  in  a  way.  Edward,  when  he  came,  would  act  as  a 
check  on  Charlie's  amatory  hankerings,  if  he  entertained  any, 
and  she  was  beginning  to  think  that  her  apprehensions  on  this 
score  had  been  groundless. 

After  Olive  had  taken  her  lover  through  the  greenhouses 
and  round  the  garden,  both  behaving  the  while  as  discreetly 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  20I 

as  if  they  were  under  their  mothers'  eyes,  she  piloted  him  by 
devious  paths  towards  the  pine  wood,  first  bidding  him  mark 
well  the  way,  so  that  he  might  find  it  another  time  unguided. 

"  But  why  ?     Where  are  we  going  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  You  will  see." 

Presently  they  reached  a  quickthorn  hedge,  dense,  high, 
and  apparently  impenetrable ;  but  gliding  behind  a  fir  tree 
with  wide-spreading  boughs  Olive  slipped  through  an  almost 
invisible  gap,  and  Charlie,  following,  found  himself  in  a  broad 
walk,  hemmed  in  between  the  hedge  and  a  high  wall,  hidden 
under  a  century's  growth  of  ivy,  and  carpeted  with  mossy  turf. 
At  one  end  of  the  walk  was  an  arbor,  at  the  other,  a  tiny 
pool,  white  with  water-lilies. 

"  Now  we  can  talk,"  said  Olive. 

Charlie  put  his  arm  round  her  waist  and 

"  I  didn't  mean  that  (laughing).  However,  nobody  ever 
comes  here  but  me.  Mother  does  not  know  of  it ;  besides, 
she  objects  to  climbing  the  hill.  I  did  not  find  it  out  until 
we  had  been  here  a  month,  and  then  by  accident.  You  have 
no  idea  how  weirdly  beautiful  it  looks  by  moonlight.  But 
the  gardeners — Mr.  Marsh  keeps  the  gardens  up,  you  know — 
won't  come  near  the  place  if  they  can  help,  especially  after 
dark." 

"  Why  ?  " 

"They  wouldn't  tell  you  if  you  asked  them.  They 
wouldn't  tell  me.  So  I  got  one  of  the  maids  to  find  out. 
They  think  it  is  haunted.  They  are  superstitious,  rustics 
generally  are,  I  fancy,  especially  when  they  live  near  the  sea, 
but  I  am  not  in  the  least,  are  you  ?  " 

"  No  ;  but  why  should  it  be  haunted  ?  " 

"  Well,  there  are  two  stories  ;  one  has  it  that,  long  ago,  a 
former  owner  of  the  property  hanged  himself  to  one  of  the 
trees  hereabout ;  another,  that  he  was  drowned  while  boating 
off  Thornby  Point,  for  which  cause  his  disembodied  spirit  is 
supposed  to  revisit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon,  and  has  been  seen 
on  this  very  spot  within  the  last  four  years.  At  least,  so  they 
say.  And  what  do  you  suppose  they  used  to  call  this  beauti- 
ful glade  ?  '  Dead  Man's  Walk  ! '  Wasn't  it  too  horrid  1 
Mais  nous  avons  change  tout  cela." 

"  What  do  they  call  it  now  ?  " 

"  What  should  you  think  ?  The  Fairies'  Tryst.  Are  you  an 
early  riser,  Charlie  ? " 


2  02  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Well,  not  very,  but  I  can  be,  you  know.     Why  ?  " 

"  Because — early  morning  is  the  pleasantest  part  of  the 
day  at  this  time  of  the  year.  All  is  so  fresh  and  bright,  and 
the  birds  are  singing  and  the  rabbits  hopping  about,  and  that. 
I  often  come  here  about  seven  or  eight.  I  daresay  I  shall  be 
here  to-morrow  morning  and  on  Monday." 

"  I  am  sure  I  shall.  I  like  to  hear  the  birds  sing  and  see 
the  rabbits  hop  about,  and  all  that." 

"  Don't  tease  ;  if  you  do  you  will  only  have  the  rabbits  and 
the  birds  to  keep  you  company.  There  are  three  or  four 
ways  of  getting  here,  which  is  fortunate,  for  we  must  not  be 
seen  coming  together  or  following  each  other.  Didn't  you 
observe  that  mother  rather  hesitated  to  let  me  show  you  round 
the  garden  ?  Close  to  the  pool  is  a  door  in  the  wall,  open- 
ing into  a  path  which  brings  you  to  the  bottom  of  the  carriage 
drive  ;  and  behind  the  arbor  is  another  path  leading  to  the 
boathouse  and  the  cove." 

"  I  shall  go  round  by  the  cove." 

"  Do.  Then  nobody  can  suspect,  and  on  Monday  morn- 
ing we  might  come  another  way.  And  now  we  must  return, 
or  we  shall  outstay  our  leave,  and  then  mother  would  think — 
what  we  don't  want  her  to  think — at  present." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


203 


CHAPTER  XXVr. 

THE    fairies'    tryst. 

Charlie  hesitated  no  longer.  He  would  neither  play  the 
liypocrite  with  Olive  nor  deceive  her  mother  by  accepting  a 
bogus  trust.  For  the  others,  being  already  committed,  there 
was  some  excuse ;  for  him,  with  his  father's  warning  ringing 
in  his  ears,  none.  He  was,  moreover,  absolutely  certain,  his 
brother  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  that  Mrs.  Lincoln 
would  both  give  them  time  and  keep  their  secret ;  and  it 
might  be  that  his  refusal  to  sign  the  deed  Vv^ould  compel 
them  to  deal  frankly  with  her. 

It  would  be  very  painful,  of  course — another  scene  with  his 
mother,  another  quarrel  with  Ned — but  nothing  could  be 
more  painful  than  the  agonies  of  doubt  which  he  had  lately 
endured,  and  anything  were  better  than  participating  in  an 
act  of  which  he  should  never  be  able  to  think  without  shame 
and  remorse. 

In  the  improbable  event  of  Olive  on  the  following  day 
speaking  of  the  trust,  or  referring  to  the  deed,  he  would  tell 
her  all  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  disclose — otherwise  not  until 
Monday  morning.  For  her  sake  it  was  better  to  keep  her  in 
the  bliss  of  ignorance  so  long  as  might  be  ;  for  his  own,  to 
put  off  the  portentous  communication  to  the  last  moment. 
After  telling  Olive  he  would  announce  his  decision  to  Ned 
and  his  mother,  and  then — the  deluge. 

The  second  meeting  at  the  Fairies'  Tr}^st  went  off  as  Charlie 
expected.  Olive  made  no  mention  of  the  trust.  Why  should 
she  ?  She  regarded  the  affair  as  settled ;  the  brothers  had 
agreed  to  act,  and  they  had  only  to  execute  the  deed  which 
Charlie  had  brought  in  his  bag.  After  a  delightful  tete-a-tete 
the  lovers  returned  to  the  house  by  different  ways,  and  when 
he  strode  carelessly  into  the  breakfast-room  she  was  pouring 
out  a  cup  of  tea  for  his  mother. 

He  had  been  down  at  the  Cove,  he  said ;  Mrs.  Lincoln 


2  04  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

hoped  he  enjoyed  his  walk,  to  which  he  answered  that  he 
had  enjoyed  himself  immensely,  and  Olive  from  behind  the 
tea  urn  gave  him  so  roguish  a  glance  that  it  was  all  he  could 
do  to  keep  his  countenance. 

Late  in  the  day  Edward  came,  and  he  had  so  much  to  say, 
and  the  two  matrons  made  so  much  of  him,  and  Olive  deemed 
it  to  be  politic  to  be  so  civil  to  him  (by  way  of  lulling  her 
mother's  suspicions)  that  Charlie  had  to  fall  rather  into  the 
background,  not  unwillingly,  for  as  the  day  wore  on  he 
thought  more  and  more  of  the  ordeal  before  him  and  its  pos- 
sible issues,  and  wondered  wistfully  what  the  next  forty-eight 
hours  would  bring  forth. 

After  Edward  had  been  flattered  and  refreshed,  there  was 
a  walk  down  to  the  cove  and  an  inspection  of  Mr.  Marsh's 
yawl,  which  he  had  placed  at  Mrs.  Lincoln's  disposal ;  and 
at  that  lady's  suggestion  it  was  agreed  that  on  Monday  her 
daughter  should  go  out  for  a  sail,  with  Edward  for  captain 
and  Charlie  for  crew.  Both  knew  how  to  sail  a  boat,  but  the 
elder  was  supposed  to  be  the  more  skilful  sailor  of  the 
two. 

Sunday  was  spent  in  going  to  church,  rambling  in  the 
grounds,  and  sauntering  by  the  sea-shore.  At  night  a  little 
concert  of  sacred  music,  in  which  Edward  who  had  a  voice 
like  a  corn  crake,  was  conceited  enough  to  think  that  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  ;  then,  all  to  bed.  To  Charlie's  relief,  for 
there  is  nothing  more  fatiguing  than  trying  to  look  happy 
when  you  feel  miserable,  and  as  the  critical  moment  drew 
near  his  uneasiness  increased.  All  day  he  had  been  op- 
pressed with  gloomy  forebodings,  and  for  a  long  time  wooed 
sleep  in  vain.  Wakening  at  six  and  finding  further  sleep  im- 
possible, he  rose,  donned  his  clothes,  and  going  softly  down- 
stairs slipped  out  by  a  side  door. 

Now,  it  so  fell  out  that  Edward,  happening  at  the  same 
time  to  open  his  bedroom  window,  to  let  in  the  fresh  morn- 
ing air,  spied  his  brother  wending  down  the  avenue. 

This  made  Edward  put  on  his  considering  cap.  "  What," 
he  asked  himself,  "  can  be  Charlie's  object  in  rising  so  early  ? 
At  home  he  stops  in  bed  till  the  last  moment."  And  his 
naturally  sharp  wits  being  still  further  sharpened  by  curiosity 
and  suspicion  he  was  not  long  in  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  Charlie's  object  was  Olive — that  they  had  planned  a  ma- 
tutinal meeting,  and  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  rendezvous. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  205 

"  If  I  could  only  catch  them  ! ''  muttered  Edward  between 
his  set  teeth. 

It  was  too  late  to  see  whither  Charlie  went ;  but  if  he  were 
right  in  his  surmise  Olive  would  presently  be  making  her 
way  in  the  same  direction  (Charlie  would  naturally  start  first) 
and  her  he  might  shadow.  So  Edward  hastily  dressed, 
keeping  watch  the  while  from  his  windows,  which  looked 
south  and  west  respectively,  and  commanded  several  exits. 
After  watching  for  nearly  an  hour  he  was  rewarded  for  his 
diligence.  Miss  Lincoln,  wearing  a  sun-bonnet  and  garden 
gloves,  and  armed  with  a  light  spud,  crossed  the  lawn ;  and, 
as  it  might  appear,  made  straight  for  the  pine  wood.  Three 
minutes  later  Edward  was  on  her  track,  at  a  respectable 
distance,  however,  and  dodging  behind  shrubs  and  bushes 
to  avoid  being  seen. 

After  a  short,  albeit  exciting,  chase,  he  reached  the  quick- 
thorn  hedge  ;  and  there  the  pursuit  ended,  for  though  he  could 
have  sworn  that  Olive  was  not  a  score  of  yards  ahead  of  him, 
and  he  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  gown  only  a  moment 
previously,  he  was  completely  baffled.  The  quarry  had 
vanished  without  leaving  a  trace  behind. 

Edward  looked  hard  at  the  hedge.  It  was  as  strong  and 
impervious  as  a  stone  wall.  No  animal  less  ponderous  than 
an  elephant  could  break  through  it,  none  less  active  than  a 
deer  leap  over  it.  He  reconnoitred  it  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  made  several  wide  casts,  and  after  loitering  about  a 
long  time  retraced  his  steps,  foiled  and  discomfited,  and 
wild  with  jealousy  and  rage,  for  though  he  had  failed  to  catch 
the  lovers  m.  flagrante  delicto  he  had  not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
that  they  were  together — somewhere. 

When  Olive,  unaware  of  the  danger  she  had  so  narrowly 
escaped,  slipped  through  the  opening,  which  Edward  had 
fortunately  overlooked,  Charlie  received  her  in  his  arms  and 
greeted  her  even  more  tenderly  than  usual.  Who  could  tell 
when  or  whether  he  should  have  the  chance  again  ? 

"  How  kind  of  you  to  come  !  "  he  said.  "  Was  the  coast 
clear  ?     Have  you  any  news  ?  " 

"  Quite.  I  did  not  see  even  a  gardener.  Yes,  I  have 
news,  a  letter — whom  do  you  think  from  "i  And  a  message 
for  you." 

"  I  have  no  idea." 

"  From  Cousin  Paul.     It  came  yesterday.     He  writes  from 


2o6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Nevada  City,  California.  This  is  the  message  (producing 
the  letter).  I  will  read  it.  Listen.  '  Tell  your  (a  word  I 
cannot  make  out,  but  I  know  he  means  you)  that  the  impos- 
sible has  happened.  I  have  come  across  Mark  Uarnley— 
more,  I  have  taken  him  in  hand  and  he  is  doing  well.  I  gave 
him  the  message.  It  brought  tears  to  his  eyes,  and  he  was 
very  quiet  and  down  for  a  long  time  afterwards  ;  he  would 
like  anybody  who  takes  an  interest  in  him  to  know  that  he 
has  kept  straight  ever  since  he  came  to  this  country  ;  and  he 
thinks  that  before  long  his  family  will  hear  something  to  his 
advantage.  I  think  so,  too.  When  are  you  going  to  bring 
your  Prince  to  America  ?  He  would  make  his  fortune  out 
here.  He  is  the  right  sort.  I  shall  never  forget  the  Vv'on- 
derful  way  in  which  he  made  your  horse  turn  a  somersault 
over  that  fence.' 

"  Dear  old  Paul !  I  should  like  to  see  him  again.  Who 
is  this  Mark  Darnley,  and  why  did  you  send  him  a  message  .-•  " 

"Well,  it's  rather  a  secret,  but  you  can  keep  one." 

"Try  me." 

"  Mark  Darnley  is  my  brother  Jack,  As  you  may  have 
heard.  Jack  was  a  sad  scapegrace  and  a  sore  trouble  to  my 
father  and  mother.  He  behaved  so  badly,  in  fact,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  remain  in  England  ;  and  Ned  and  I 
got  him  away  to  America.  Knowing  he  had  gone  West,  I 
asked  your  cousin  to  keep  a  look-out  for  him,  without,  of 
course,  saying  he  was  my  brother,  though  I  fancy,  from  the 
tone  of  his  letter,  that  he  guesses  or  has  been  told  the  truth." 

"  Why  does  he  go  by  the  name  of  Darnley  ?  " 

"  To  throw  the  police  off  his  track.  He  deserted  from  the 
army;  and  there  was  a  hue  and  cry  after  him." 

"  How  dreadful  !  But  he  is  doing  well  now,  and  from 
what  Paul  says,  I  am  sure  he  is  very  sorry  and  penitent." 

"  He  has  need  to  be.  When  I  think  of  the  trouble  he  has 
caused  !  However,  the  less  said  about  Jack  the  better.  It 
is  a  painful  subject — and  I  have  something  to  tell  you,  darling, 
something  which  has  been  on  my  mind  since  I  came  here.  I 
am  very  sorry,  for  I  fear  it  will  make  you  as  unhappy  as  it 
has  made  me — but  there  is  no  help  for  it." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Olive  anxiously. 

"  I  shall  have  to  decline  being  your  mother's  trustee." 

"  You  are  surely  joking,"  she  said,  eyeing  him  with  bewil- 
dered gaze. 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 


207 


"  Do  I  look  as  if  I  were  joking  ?  " 

In  truth,  he  looked  more  like  a  man  who  is  about  to  be 
executed,  or  going  in  for  a  competitive  examination. 

"But  why  ?     What  has  happened  ?  " 

"  That  is  the  worst  of  it.     I  am  not  at  liberty  to  say." 

"  Not  at  liberty  to  say,  not  at  liberty  to  tell  me  ! "  she 
exclaimed  hotly,  disengaging  herself  from  his  embrace.  "  I 
thought  we  were  to  have  no  secrets  from  each  other.  Is  this 
the  return  for  my  love  ?     Is  this  " 

"  Don't  be  so  hast}',  Olive.    Let  me  explain." 

"  What  can  you  explain  ?  Will  you  tell  me  why  you  refuse 
to  do  this  very  small  favor  for  my  mother,  which  you  said 
you  esteemed  an  honor  ?     Will  you  tell  me,  yes  or  no  ?  " 

"  Do  have  a  little  patience  with  me,  Olive.  I  cannot  answer 
yes  or  no.  You  may  be  sure  I  would  if  I  could — right 
willingly.  Some  time  you  shall  know  all.  But  for  the  present 
my  lips  are  sealed — much  against  my  own  will.  Believe  me, 
darling,  that  if  I  could  tell  you  without  breaking  my  word  I 
would  not  hesitate  a  moment." 

*'  Breaking  your  word,  indeed  !  Why,  you  are  breaking  it 
now.  Didn't  you  write  to  my  mother  that  you  would  accept 
the  appointment  with  pleasure  ?  Haven't  you  protested  over 
and  over  again  that  you  would  do  whatever  I  asked  you,  and 
never  keep  aught  back  from  me  ?  " 

Olive  spoke  with  great  heat  and  indignant  gesture.  She  was 
touched  in  her  pride,  and  felt  as  if  her  love  were  contemned. 
The  idea  of  making  Charlie  a  trustee  was  entirely  hers.  It 
was  she  who  had  suggested  it  to  her  mother,  and  persuaded 
her  to  discard  Mr.  Marsh.  Her  lover's  refusal  to  act  was 
both  a  breach  of  faith  and  an  affront  to  her  mother  and 
herself. 

"It  is  all  over  between  us,"  she  continued  after  a  short 
pause.  "  As  we  have  not  been  formally  engaged  there  is  no 
engagement  to  break  off.  And  we  never  shall  be  engaged. 
I  cannot  give  my  love  to  a  man  who  slights  my  mother,  and 
refuses  me  his  confidence." 

"  Don't  say  that,  Olive.  For  God's  sake  don't  say  that. 
You  will  break  my  heart.  If  you  knew  how  sorely  I 
have  been  tried  you  would  pity  me  instead  of  blaming  me. 
I  am  striving  to  do  right  under  terrible  pressure  to  do  wrong. 
You  don't  want  me  to  do  wrong,  and  I  should  do  if " 

Here  poor  Charlie,  who  was  deeply  moved,  nearly   broke 


2o8  THE  FRIJVCES  OF  PEELE. 

down,  and  in  her  heart  Olive  began  to  relent.  But  her  temper 
was  still  high,  and  her  pride  would  not  let  her  show  signs  of 
yielding. 

"  It  cannot  be  right  to  slight  my  mother  or  wrong  to  give 
me  your  confidence — if  you  really  love  me,"  she  said  coldly. 
"  However,  you  will  do  as  you  think  best.  I  shall  return  your 
letters  before  you  leave  ;  you  can  send  mine  when  you  get 
home." 

And  then  she  turned  on  her  heel  and  went  down  by  the 
arbor;  but  as  she  thought  of  her  lover's  distress  and  recalled 
his  pathetic  appeal  pity  conquered  pride,  and,  once  out  of 
sight,  she  stopped  frequently  and  listened  eagerly,  hoping  to 
hear  his  well-known  footsteps,  and  ready  to  throw  herself  into 
his  arms  and  ask  his  forgiveness  for  her  hasty  words. 

But  Charlie,  ignorant  of  the  vagaries  of  maidens'  minds,  and 
believing  that  Olive  had  said  her  last  words,  remained  for  a 
while  in  gloomy  meditation,  and  then  left  the  Tryst  by  the 
gap   in  the  hedge. 

Near  the  house  he  fell  in  with  Edward. 

"  You  were  up  betimes  this  morning,"  said  the  latter.  "  I 
saw  you  go  down  the  avenue  soon  after  six." 

"  Did  you  ?  "  answered  Charlie  absently,  and  walked  on. 
Then,  as  if  suddenly  remembering  something,  he  stopped 
short.  "  Look  here,  Ned,"  he  said,  "  I  may  as  well  tell  you 
now  as  later.  I  am  not  going  to  execute  that  deed  unless 
Mrs,  Lincoln  is  told." 

"  Nonsense !  you  consented." 

"  No,  I  didn't.  I  admit  that  mother  made  me  hesitate  ;  but 
I  did  not  consent,  and  I  never  shall.  That  you  may  make 
up  your  mind  to." 

Edward  felt  disposed  to  use  strong  language  ;  but,  remem- 
bering the  failure  of  his  former  attempt  at  browbeating,  he 
kept  his  temper,  observing  quietly  that  he  felt  sure  his 
brother  would  think  better  of  it  before  the  day  was  over. 

"  No,  I  shall  not,"  was  the  answer. 

"  You  must  tell  mother  yourself,  then  ;  I  won't." 

"  Very  well ;  I  shall  tell  her  when  we  return  from  our 
cruise," 

Edward  smiled  derisively.  In  a  contest  with  his  mother 
Charlie  was  sure  to  come  off  second  best.  There  would  be 
another  scene,  ending,  as  before,  in  his  discomfiture,  and  the 
deed  would  be  signed. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  209 

"  It  is  past  eight  (looking  at  his  watch).  Let  us  go  in  to 
breakfast,  or  we  shall  not  be  off  before  the  tide  ebbs." 

The  brothers  entered  the  breakfast-room  with  the  ladies. 
Charlie  glanced  at  Olive  ;  though  pale  and  heavy-eyed  she 
was  calm  and  composed,  and  as  alert  as  usual. 

"  You  are  not  looking  very  bright  this  morning,"  said  her 
mother.     "  The  sail  will  do  you  good." 

"  I  am  not  going  to  sail." 

"  Why  ? " 

"  I  don't  feel  like  it." 

"  Have  you  a  headache  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  a  headache." 

"  In  that  case  you  had  better  stop  at  home  and  keep  quiet. 
You  will  go  all  the  same,  of  course  (addressing  the  brothers)." 

"  I  think  so.  What  do  you  say,  Charlie  ?  "  asked  Edward 
of  his  brother. 

Charlie  did  not  care  for  a  sail  with  his  brother  for  sole 
companion,  he  feared  they  might  quarrel,  and  wanted  to 
be  alone — but  as  he  could  not  well  refuse  to  go  because  Olive 
was  not  going,  answered  listlessly,  and  not  very  graciously; 
"  Yes,  let  us  go." 

"  When  shall  we  expect  you  back  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
and  Edward  (who  evidently  intended  to  "  boss  the  show  ") 
replied  : 

"  That  depends  a  good  deal  on  wind  and  weather.  About 
three  o'clock,  I  should  say.  W^e  shall  go  a  few  miles  out, 
and  if  it  keeps  calm  do  a  little  line  fishing." 

"  At  any  rate,  you  will  be  back  in  time  for  afternoon  tea  ? " 

"  Certainly.     At  the  very  latest." 

14 


2IO  THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

A  CATASTROPHE. 

Olive's  head  ached  a  little,  her  heart  a  good  deal.  Con- 
science told  her  that  she  had  been  unkind,  using  in  her  anger 
words  which,  the  more  she  thought  of  them,  the  harsher  they 
seemed.  She  knew  Charlie's  loyalty  and  worth  and  how 
deeply  he  loved  her  ;  only  for  good  reason  and  because  he 
had  no  alternative  would  he  do  aught  either  to  give  her  um- 
brage or  affront  her  mother.  What  was  it  .''  Why  had  he 
given  his  word  not  to  execute  the  deed  (for  in  this  sense  she 
construed  his  explanation),  which  only  two  days  before  he 
had  been  quite  willing  to  execute,  or  he  would  not  have 
brought  it  with  him  ?  Had  she  been  less  impetuous  and  more 
forbearing,  he  might  have  given  her  a  clue  to  the  mystery 
without  actually  breaking  the  promise  he  had  so  strangely 
given.     By  her  own  act  she  was  left  completely  in  the  dark. 

Instead  of  keeping  quiet,  as  her  mother  had  bidden  her, 
Olive  roamed  restlessly  about  the  grounds  in  rueful  mood, 
longing  continually  for  Charlie's  return,  in  order  that  she  might 
let  him  know  by  sign  or  word  that  he  was  forgiven  and  she 
repentant,  and  arrange  for   a  meeting  on  the  morrow. 

After  luncheon  Olive,  with  a  book  in  one  hand  and  a  sun- 
shade in  the  other,  strolled  towards  the  shrubberies,  as  if 
seeking  a  shady  corner  where  she  might  sit  down  and  read  ; 
then,  as  if  changing  her  mind,  or  following  out  a  preconceived 
plan,  she  doubled  and  made  for  the  Fairies'  Tryst.  It  was 
the  quietest  spot  she  knew,  and  she  wanted  to  be  alone  with 
her  thoughts.  Sitting  down  in  the  arbor,  Olive  opened  her 
book,  and  her  resolve  to  make  it  up  with  Charlie  having  some- 
what tranquilized  her  mind,  she  actually  succeeded  in  read- 
ing a  few  pages  with  understanding.  But  soon  her  thoughts 
wandered  once  more,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  sit  still,  she 
laid  the  book  down  and  turned  with  pensive  mien  into  the 
path  leading  to  the  Cove. 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE.  2  1 1 

"Olive!" 

The  girl  started  and  stopped  short.  It  seemed  as  if  some- 
body were  calling  her  name  a  long  way  off.  Yes.  There  it 
was  again — "  Olive  !  "  faint,  yet  distinct,  as  if  wafted  by  the 
breeze  from  over  the  sea.  Greatly  wondering,  but  quite  on 
the  alert,  she  walked  slowly  down  the  path. 

Charlie  !  Of  course.  Who  else  could  it  be  .'  Who  but 
he  would  call  her  name  in  that  soft,  low  voice } 

And  there  he  was  in  the  path,  coming  to  meet  her. 

"  Back  already  !  "  she  cried,  hastening  towards  him.  "  I 
did  not  expect  you  so  soon." 

But  even  as  she  spoke  he  was  gone — as  suddenly  and  swiftly 
as  though  he  had  sunk  into  the  ground,  or  melted  into  the 
air. 

Thinking  he  was  teasing  her  she  ran  to  the  spot  where  she 
had  last  seen  him,  peering  into  the  bushes  and  calling  his 
name.  But  her  summons  was  unheeded,  her  eyes  sought  for 
him  in  vain  ;  he  had  vanished  utterly.     It  was  very  strange. 

And  then,  feeling  faint  and  bewildered,  she  leant  against  a 
tree  and  tried  to  compose  herself  and  collect  her  thoughts.  If 
it  had  not  been  for  the  call  she  might  have  thought  that  Charlie 
wanted  to  avoid  her ;  but  if  he  did,  why  was  he  there  alone  ? 
And  the  manner  of  his  disappearance  was  so  creepily  uncanny. 
One  moment  there,  the  next  nowhere — gone  without  turning 
his  head  or  making  a  sign.  Olive  had  protested  to  her  lover 
that  she  was  not  superstitious,  and  was  probably  no  more  so 
than  most  folks ;  yet  she  had  read  stories  of  wraiths  and 
doubles,  and  now  strange  thoughts  assailed  her  and  a  great 
fear  came  over  her.  But  not  for  long  ;  in  a  few  minutes  she 
was  herself  again,  and  laughing  at  her  own  folly. 

"  It  was  Charlie  himself — of  course  it  was — why  should  I 
doubt  it?  Anyway,  I'll  soon  find  out,"  a  resolve  that  showed 
she  was  not  quite  so  sure  as  she  tried  to  believe. 

In  twenty  minutes  she  was  at  Ae  Cove.  Two  or  three 
boatmen  were  loitering  about,  with  their  hands  in  their 
pockets  and  their  pipes  in  their  mouths. 

"  Is  the  yawl  back.  Job  ? "  she  asked  one  of  them. 

"  Not  yet ;  and  I  don't  see  her  coming,  neither  "  (shading 
his  eyes  with  his  hands  and  looking  seaward). 

It  was  all  Olive  could  do  to  maintain  her  composure,  and 
feeling  that  she  must  say  something,  yet  not  knowing  what, 
she  rather  foolishly  asked  the  man,  who  had  a  sour  temper, 


2 1 2  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

and  made  a  point  of  always  looking  at  the  dark  side,  when 
he  thought  the  yawl  would  be  back. 

"  That  is  more  than  I  can  tell  you,  Miss  Lincoln,"  he  said 
with  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders.  "  It  depends  so  much  how 
far  the  gentlemen  have  gone,  what  sort  of  sailors  they  are, 
and  what  sort  of  weather  they  make.  I've  seen  boats  go  out 
as  has  never  come  back." 

Olive  turned  pale." 

"  You  surely  don't  think  they  are  in  any  danger .''  "  she 
asked. 

"  No,  miss,  I  cannot  say  as  I  do  think  so  ;  the  yawl  is  a 
good  sea  boat,  the  wind  is  fair  and  the  weather  fine.  But 
there's  no  telling  ;  the  sea  is  always  treacherous,  and  we  have 
as  much  weather  on  this  coast  as  anywhere  I've  bin  to,  and 
I've  bin  well-nigh  everywhere.  As  like  as  not  it'll  be  blowing 
half-a-gale  before  sundown." 

"  Would  half-a-gale  be  very  bad  .''  " 

"  Not  as  bad  as  a  hout-and-houter,  nor  yet  three-parts  of 
one,  miss." 

Olive  turned  away  and  wended  homeward — by  the  road, 
not  the  footpath  and  the  Fairies'  Tryst. 

It  was  not  Charlie  she  had  seen,  then,  after  all.  At  any 
rate,  not  Charlie  in  the  body,  and  as  she  did  not  believe  in 
apparitions  and  knew  nothing  of  telepathy,  she  fell  back  on 
optical  illusions,  about  which  she  had  lately  read  a  paper  in 
Chambers''s  Miscellany.  Nothing  was  more  probable  than 
that  the  shadowy  likeness  of  her  lover  which  she  had  seen 
in  the  path  was  the  coinage  of  her  imagination.  The  meet- 
ing in  the  morning,  the  quarrel,  Charlie's  departure,  the 
loneliness  of  the  Fairies'  Tryst  and  its  associations ;  all  these 
favored  the  evolution  of  mental  phantasmagoria.  Yes,  there 
could  be  no  doubt  about  it ;  the  figure  she  had  seen  and  the 
voice  she  had  heard  were  illusions  ;  an  opinion  in  which  she 
was  confirmed  by  a  re-perusal  of  the  article  in  C/iambers's 
Miscellany.  Nevertheless,  and  in  spite  of  herself,  doubts 
still  lingered  in  Olive's  mind,  and  as  the  hour  when  the 
brothers  had  promised  to  return  drew  near  her  uneasiness 
increased.  They  might  be  back  at  three  or  four  ;  they  were 
sure  to  be  back  at  five.  Every  time  the  clock  struck  she 
counted  the  strokes,  and  when  it  went  five  and  there  was  still 
no  sign  of  them,  her  anxiety  deepened  into  alarm. 

"  They  are  surely  very  late,"  she  said  to  her  mother. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  213 

"Oh,  I  don't  know.  \Mien  men  go  out  fishing  they  lose 
count  of  time.  They  are  perhaps  having  good  sport  and 
don't  like  to  leave  off ;  or  the  wind  may  be  contrary.  Let  us 
have  tea,  they  are  sure  to  be  back  by  dinner-time." 

Again  Olive  was  comforted,  but  only  for  a  while.  At  six 
o'clock  her  suspense  grew  unbearable,  and  not  liking  to  make 
another  visit  to  the  Cove  she  took  a  field-glass  and  went  to  a 
part  of  the  grounds  which  commanded  a  view  of  the  sea. 
Several  boats  were  visible,  any  one  of  which  might  be  the 
yawl;  this  cheered  her;  she  was  also  glad  to  see  that  the  old 
sailor's  forebodings  as  to  the  weather  were  not  being  fulfilled. 
True,  the  boats  were  tossing  about  a  bit,  and  there  was  a 
lively  breeze,  but  nothing  like  a  gale,  or  even  half-a-gale, 
and  as  the  yawl  was  a  good  sea  boat  and  Edward  a  skilful 
boatman — to  say  nothing  of  Charlie — it  was  hardly  conceiv- 
able that  they  could  have  met  with  any  mishap.  Her  mother 
was  no  doubt  right ;  they  had  either  gone  further  than  they 
intended  or  were  catching  so  many  fish  that  they  did  not 
like  to  leave  off. 

Olive  shut  up  her  glass,  and  on  returning  to  the  house  found 
her  mother  at  the  front  door,  gazing  seaward  and  looking 
vexed. 

"  I  see  nothing  of  them,"  she  said,  testily.  "  Whatever 
can  they  be  doing }  If  they  are  not  here  soon  the  dinner 
wull  be  quite  spoiled.  Let  us  walk  down  the  avenue,  and  see 
whether  they  are  coming."' 

Olive  acquiesced.  It  was  a  winding  avenue,  and  as  they 
rounded  the  first  turn  two  men  v.'ere  visible  in  the  distance, 
coming  towards  them. 

"  Why,  there  they  are,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Lincoln. 

"  Two  men,  at  any  rate,"  returned  Olive,  with  assumed 
indifference. 

"  Yes,  Edward  and  Charlie.  No,  it  isn't.  Edward  and 
somebody  else.  W^ho  is  he .''  Your  eyes  are  younger  than 
mine." 

"  Job,  the  boatman,"  said  Olive,  and  for  the  second  time 
that  day  a  great  fear  came  over  her. 

"  Charlie  is  behind,  no  doubt ;  he  will  be  here  presently. 
I  am  very  glad  ;  there  will  be  no  need  to  keep  dinner  back 
more  than  ten  minutes  or  so.  Here  they  come.  Well,  you 
are  late,  I  was  just  saying. — Why,  what  ?  ^^^hatever  is  the 
matter  ?  " 


2  1 4  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Edward  was  deadly  pale,  his  eyes  were  red,  as  if  he  had 
been  weeping  !  he  was  all  of  a  tremble,  his  knees  bent  as  he 
walked,  and  the  old  sailor  looked  portentously  grave. 

"  Whatever  is  the  matter  ?  "  she  repeated.  "  Where  is 
Charlie.''  " 

"  He — I — mean — Charlie "  stammered  Edward,  \viping 

the  sweat  from  his  brow,  and  leaning  on  Job  for  support. 
"  He  is " 

"  Dead,"  said  Olive  in  an  intense  whisper,  looking  into  his 
eyes,  her  hands  tightly  clenched,  her  face  ghastly. 

"  Who  says  so  ?  How  do  you  know  ?  How  does  anybody 
know  ?  "  returned  Edward,  bending  his  head,  as  if  to  avoid 
her  gaze, 

"  I  can  see  it  in  your  face," 

"  What  has  happened  ?  Tell  us  right  away,  for  Heaven's 
sake,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  was  too  agitated  to  no- 
tice her  daughter's  still  greater  agitation.  "  What  has  hap- 
pened .-*     Where  is  Charlie  ?  " 

"  There  has  been  an  accident.  A  very  sad,  inexplicable 
accident,"  said  Edward,  pulling  himself  together  and  speak- 
ing more  coherently.  "  When  we  were  a  few  miles  out — south 
of  Thornby  Point — the  wind  fell  off  and  we  began  fishing, 
and  did  pretty  well,  but  after  a  while  it  grew  very  hot,  and 
Charlie  proposed  that  we  should  bathe.  All  this  time  we  had 
been  drifting  further  south  and  were  a  longish  way  from  land. 
I  agreed,  of  course,  but  as  I  am  not  much  of  a  swimmer  I 
said  I  would  keep  close  to  the  boat,  and  I  warned  Charlie 
not  to  go  too  far  away  ;  the  tide  being  on  the  turn  and  the 
yawl  beginning  to  drift,  'AH  right,'  he  said,  'I'll  not  lose 
sight  of  you,'  and  then  he  dived  over  the  port  side  and  swam 
away.  A  few  minutes  afterwards  I  went  into  the  water  on 
the  starboard  side,  and  stayed  in,  perhaps,  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  or  twenty  minutes,  keeping  close  to  the  boat,  which  con- 
tinued to  drift,  and  floating  on  my  back  nearly  all  the  time. 
The  first  thing  I  did  when  I  got  into  the  boat  was  to  look  for 
Charlie,  To  my  horror,  I  could  see  nothing  of  him  ;  even 
through  my  glass,  a  very  powerful  one  that  we  had  taken  with 
us,  I  could  not  make  him  out.  Then  I  shouted,  again  and 
again,  but  no  answer  came.  .  .  ,  When  I  last  saw  him — just 
before  I  went  into  the  water  myself — he  was  going  away  from 
the  land,  but  whether  he  had  continued  in  that  direction  I 
could  not  tell — it  was  not  likely  that  he  would  keep  straight 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


215 


on  ;  yet  I  feared  that,  with  his  swimming  and  the  boat  drift- 
ing, we  were  so  far  apart  that  he  could  not  see  me,  so  I  made 
sail  and  stood  out  to  sea,  then  tacked,  then  lay  to,  and  tacked 
again,  and  so  continued  a  long  time,  all  the  while  keeping  a 
sharp  lookout,  and  making  as  much  noise  as  I  could.  At 
last,  I  fell  in  with  a  fishing-smack,  and,  hailing  her,  told  the 
crew  what  had  happened.  They  lent  me  a  boy  to  help  sail 
the  yawl ;  and  we  both  cruised  about  fully  three  hours,  until, 
in  fact,  as  night  was  coming  on  and  the  wind  rising,  the 
smack's  people  wouldn't  stay  with  me  any  longer  ;  they  said 
it  was  no  use." 

"  And  they  was  right,"  put  in  Job  ;  "  if  you  had  stood  there, 
on  and  off,  to  the  Judgment-day,  you  wouldn't  have  found 
him.  He  was  gone  long  afore  you  fell  in  with  the  smack — 
ten  to  one  afore  you  missed  him.  It  was  cramp — that's  what 
it  was — and  when  a  man  is  seized  with  cramp  he  just  gives  a 
shriek  and  goes  down  like  a  stone.  As  like  as  not,  however, 
the  body  will  be  washed  ashore  or  picked  up." 

"  Did  you  hear  any  cry,  Edward  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Lincoln. 

"  Hear  any  cry  ?  Oh,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  what  do  you  take  me 
for  ?  Do  you  think  that  if  I  had  heard  a  cry  I  wouldn't  have 
gone  to  him  ?  " 

"  Of  course  you  would.  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  did  not 
know  what  I  was  saying.  What  a  terrible  misfortune.  Poor 
Charlie!  I  fear  it  is  as  you  say.  Job;  he  must  have  been 
seized  with  cramp.  God  help  his  poor  mother.  Who  will 
break  it  to  her.?     Olive!" 

But  Olive  was  gone.  She  had  heard  enough  ;  her  worst 
forebodings  were  realized,  and,  unable  longer  to  control  her 
feelings,  she  had  stolen  away  to  her  own  room. 

"  Would  you  break  it  to  her,  Mrs.  Lincoln  ?  "  asked  Ed- 
ward with  bated  breath,  and  in  a  broken  voice.  "  I  .  ,  . 
don't  feel  as  if  I  could.  The  suspense  and  agony  of  the  last 
few  hours  have  quite  unmanned  me,  and  I  am  physically  ex- 
hausted.    I  should  be  eternally  obliged." 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  thing  to  do,  and  rather  in  the  line  of 
his  duty  than  hers  ;  nevertheless  Mrs.  Lincoln  gave  a  prompt, 
albeit  somewhat  reluctant,  assent  to  the  proposal. 

"  Very  well,"  she  said,  "  but  you  must  be  at  hand  in  case 
she  wants  you.  No  wonder  you  are  so  overcome,  but  you 
will  have  to  keep  up  for  your  poor  mother's  sake.  Go  into 
the  house  and  get  a  glass  of  wine  while  I  speak  to  her." 


2i6  THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 

Mrs.  Lincoln,  though  a  good  woman,  was  not  good  at 
beating  about  the  bush  ;  it  was  her  habit  to  go  straight  to 
the  point,  and  she  brol<e  the  bad  news  in  such  a  fashion  as 
to  make  Mrs.  Prince  imagine  that  she  had  been  bereft  of  both 
her  sons  by  the  same  stroke. 

"  Dear  friend,"  she  began,  "  I  have  been  asked  to  tell  you 
something  that  it  will  grieve  you  sorely  to  hear.  A  great 
misfortune  has  happened.  But  He  who  tempers  the  wind 
to  the  shorn  lamb  will  give  you  strength  to  bear  it.  The 
yawl ' 

"I    know   what    you    mean Oh    my   God,    that 

it  should  come  to  this  !  My  sin  has  found  me  out ;  my  cup 
is  full.  Both  gone,  both  gone  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Prince,  franti- 
cally, and  then  swooned. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  applied  restoratives,  and  when  the  stricken 
woman  recovered  consciousness  explained  what  had  really 
befallen,  laying  stress  on  the  fact  that  though  Charlie  was 
missing  he  might  not  be  drowned,  that  there  was  room  for 
hope. 

But  Mrs.  Prince  refused  to  be  comforted. 

"  You  don't  think  so  yourself,  I  can  see  you  don't,"  she 
said.  "  Room  for  hope  !  Oh,  that  I  could  think  so  !  My 
poor  boy  is  gone,  gone  forever.  He  was  the  apple  of  his 
father's  eye.  Leonard  and  Charlie  both  gone  !  And  Jack 
I  shall  never  see  again.     Ah  me  !  " 

And  then  she  fell  a-weeping,  and  asked  for  Edward,  and 
when  he  came  Mrs.  Lincoln  left  them  together. 

He  looked  much  less  distraught  than  he  had  done  a  short 
time  previously,  thanks,  probably,  to  the  wine — a  good  deal 
more  than  a  glass — which  he  had  just  drank.  His  mother 
assailed  him  with  passionate  upbraidings.  Why  had  he 
gone  boating.!'  ^^'hy  did  he  take  Charlie  with  him?  Why 
did  he  let  Charlie  bathe  ?  Why  didn't  he  stay  all  night  look- 
ing for  the  poor  boy  ? 

Edward  was  very  patient  with  her,  either  listening  in 
gloomy  silence  or  answering  gently  and  reasonably.  Then 
she  said  it  was  a  judgment — that,  if  they  had  hearkened  to 
Charlie's  advice  and  disclosed  the  secret  of  the  broken 
trust  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  offered  to  make  restitution,  he 
would  not  have  died ;  adding,  "  And  now  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  tell  her." 

"  Your  grief  is  affecting   your   memory,   mother,  and  no 


TIIK  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


217 


wonder  ;  the  broken  trust  has  nothing  to  do  with  our  going 
out  in  the  yawl  or  bathing."  * 

"  It  was  recklQss  beyond  measure  to  bathe  from  an  open 
boat  so  far  from  land,  and  neither  of  you  a  strong  swimmer. 
Oh,  why  didn't  Olive  go  with  you  ?  If  she  had  you  wouldn't 
have  been  able  to  bathe." 

"  Anyhow,  Olive  not  going  with  us  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  trust  ;  while  as  for  our  recklessness,  as  you  call  it, 
if  Charlie  had  done  as  I  wanted  him  and  kept  near  the  boat, 
he  would  be  here  now.  He  went  too  far  and  sank  from 
exhaustion  before  he  could  get  back — or  was  seized  with 
cramp,  as  Job  thinks.  And  you  are  mistaken  about  the 
secret ;  there  is  no  need  to  disclose  it — now." 

"  I  don't  understand  you.  Do  speak  plainly.  I  am  quite 
dazed.  As  the  poor  boy  is  dead,  and  cannot  be  your  co- 
trustee, we  shall  be  obliged  to  tell  Mrs.  I-incoln,  and  all  the 
sacrifices  we  have  made  will  go  for  nothing." 

"  Not  unless  you  like.  We  should  have  been  obliged  to 
tell  her  if  this  had  not  happened.  Charlie  told  me  before  we 
set  out,  and  repeated  emphatically  in  the  boat — else  I  should 
scarce  have  believed  him — that  nothing  would  induce  him, 
not  even  your  entreaties,  to  sign  the  deed  without  imparting 
all  the  facts  to  Mrs.  Lincoln." 

"  Did  he,  really  ?  After  his  promise,  too.  Still,  I  don't 
think  he  would  have  persisted  in  his  refusal  when  it  came  to 
the  point.     And  now,  you  say  ?  " 

"  Charlie  is  in  the  policy.  The  company  will  have  no 
excuse  for  refusing  to  pay  this  time." 

"  I  thought  you  had  surrendered  the  policy." 

"  Not  yet.  We  were  in  treaty,  but  the  transaction  was  not 
completed,  and  now,  of  course,  will  not  be." 

"  You  will  get  the  money,  then  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

*'  The  price  of  your  brother's  life." 

Edward  started  as  if  he  had  been  stung  ;  and  his  face, 
which  had  regained  some  of  its  wonted  color,  became  ashen 
gray. 

"  The  price  of  my  brother's  life,  m.other,"  he  exclaimed  in 
a  voice  tremulous  with  emotion.     "  Do   you  think — do   you 

mean  that  I,  that  I "     And  then,  as  if  his  feelings  were 

too  much  for  him,  he  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands. 


2i8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  accuse  you,  dear,  but  the  thought  struck 
me ;  it  seems  to  -be  so  dreadful  to  be  talking  about  this 
money,  as  if  we  regarded  it  in  some  sort  as  an  equivalent  for 
our  poor  lost  boy." 

"  I  never  said  so." 

"  You  spoke  of  both  in  the  same  breath.  But  let  it 
pass.  .  .  .  Do  you  think  there  is  any  chance  of  the  body 
being  recovered  ?  "  she  asked  faintly. 

"The  fishermen  say  there  is,  and  I  shall  offer  a  reward." 

"  Do.  Do  everything  possible.  If  he  isn't  laid  in  con- 
secrated ground  I  think  it  will  kill  me,  and  now,  dear,  leave 
me  to  myself.     I  shall  be  better  alone." 

When  Mrs.  Lincoln  left  her  friend  she  went  to  her  daughter. 
Olive's  abrupt  disappearance  from  the  avenue  had  rekindled 
her  suspicions  and  put  her  on  the  track  of  a  painful  dis- 
covery. She  found  the  girl  lying  on  her  bed,  indulging  in  a 
passionate  outburst  of  brief. 

"  My  poor  child,  what  is  this  ?  "  she  asked  tenderly,  taking 
Olive  in  her  arms.     "  You  loved  him  t  " 

For  a  while  Olive  did  not  answer ;  then  stifling  her  sobs 
and  lifting  her  head,  she  said  tremulously  and  with  quivering 
lips : — 

"  Yes,  mother.  Charlie  was  very  dear  to  me,  and  we  had 
agreed  to  be  engaged — with  your  consent — when  we  were  a 
little  older.  He  was  so  good  and  noble,  mother,  and  he 
loved  me,  and  I " 

"  You  did  not  consider  yourself  engaged,  then  ?  " 

"  No,  I  wouldn't  be  engaged  until  I  could  tell  you  .  .  .  and 
it  would  not  have  been  right  so  soon  after  Mr.  Prince's  death." 

"  Does  anybody  know  of  this  .''  " 

"  Nobody.     We  kept  it  quite  to  ourselves." 

To  Olive's  great  relief,  her  mother  asked  no  further  ques- 
tions, and  instead  of  blaming  her,  or  finding  fault  with  Charlie, 
as  she  had  feared,  did  all  she  could  to  soothe  and  console  her. 

It  was  agreed  between  them  that  the  quasi-engagement 
should  be  kept  an  absolute  secret,  even  from  Mrs.  Prince, 
and  to  this  end  Olive  promised  that  she  would  "  keep  up," 
as  her  mother  phrased  it,  and  not  betray  herself  by  a  dis- 
play of  inordinate  grief. 

"  You  know,  darling,  it  would  not  be  seemly  to  sorrow 
openly  for  a  man  to  whom  you  were  not  openly  engaged," 
said  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  Olive,  and  then  to  herself  :  "  It  w^as 
only  children's  love  after  all ;  she  will  soon  get  over  it." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE.  219 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A    SUMMONS  FROM  THE  SEA. 

It  is  a  trite  adage,  yet  true  withal,  that  adverse  fortune  and 
strokes  of  ill-luck  are  seldom  quite  so  bad  as  they  seem.  As 
we  sit  by  the  fireside  on  a  winter's  night,  and  the  storm 
howls  without,  we  think  with  a  pitying  shudder  of  the  poor 
wayfarer  who  is  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  blast.  But  the 
wayfarer  himself  is  probably  neither  cast  down  nor  appalled. 
With  bent  head  and  teeth  hard  set  he  battles  on  to  his 
journey's  end,  knowing  that  at  the  worst  it  cannot  be 
far  off. 

In  the  same  way,  when  a  neighbor  or  a  friend  is  visited 
by  a  calamity  so  crushing  that  it  hardly  seems  possible  for 
him  to  survive  it,  he  lives  on,  and  after  a  time  (however  he 
may  suffer  in  secret)  appears  very  little  the  worse.  The  wind 
is  tempered  to  the  shorn  lamb  oftener  than  we  suppose. 

Charles  Prince's  death  was  a  dire  shock  to  Olive  Lincoln ; 
it  pained  her  all  the  more  that  she  had  parted  from  him  in 
anger,  while  she  knew,  or  imagined  she  knew,  that  his  last 
thought  was  of  her,  for  now  she  firmly  believed,  that  the 
voice  she  had  heard  in  the  Fairies'  Tryst  was  his  voice,  the 
figure  she  had  seen  his  wraith.  It  seemed  as  though  the 
light  of  her  life  were  gone  out,  and  that  she  should  never 
know  happiness  a^ain.  But  broken  hearts  are  rarer  in  reality 
than  in  romance  ;  a  middle-aged  matron,  bereft  of  her  hus- 
band, is  much  more  likely  to  be  inconsolable  than  a  maiden 
in  her  teens  bereft  of  her  lover,  and  we  know  that  widows 
do  not  always  refuse  to  be  comforted.  Olive  grieved  deeply 
for  Charlie  ;  the  wound  was  slow  to  heal,  and  for  many  weeks 
she  could  not  think  of  him  without  a  heartache,  yet  she  was 
too  young  to  despair  and  too  hopeful  to  pine,  and  so  com- 
ported herself — "  behaved  so  nobly,"  as  her  mother  put  it 
— that  nobody  guessed  that  Charlie  had  been  more  to  her 
than  a  highly  esteemed  friend,  and  the  time  came  when  she 


220  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

found  consolation  for  her  sorrow  in  a  nobler  passion  than 
love  for  a  man. 

Even  Edward  was  deceived.  "  A  case  of  flirtation  on  one 
side  ?.nd  calf-love  on  the  other,"  he  thought  to  himself,  and 
drew  therefrom  an  augury  favorable  to  his  hopes. 

As  for  Mrs.  Prince,  her  preoccupation  about  the  broken 
trust,  the  deception  which  she  had  so  long  practised,  her 
passionate  eagerness  to  shield  the  family  honor  from  the 
breath  of  scandal  at  whatever  cost,  and  the  morbid  pride 
which  was  her  ruling  motive  blunted  her  motherly,  as  it  had 
blunted  her  wifely,  love.  True,  she  mourned  for  her  lost 
son,  yet  her  grief  was  rendered  less  acute,  tolerable  even,  by 
the  thought  that  his  death  would  enable  her  to  make  good  her 
husband's  default,  and  keep  all  knowledge  of  the  fatal  secret 
from  a  censorious  world.  Her  sense  of  relief  from  the  strain 
of  anxiety  was  almost  as  great  as  the  pain  of  her  sorrow,  a 
fact  of  which  she  was  fully  conscious,  and  whereof  in  her 
heart  she  felt  bitterly  ashamed  ;  and  the  ever-recurring 
thought  that  the  course  advised  by  Charlie — a  frank  con- 
fession to  Mrs.  Lincoln — was  still  the  right  thing  to  do,  and 
that  she  had  not  the  courage  to  do  it,  added  to  her  humilia- 
tion. The  subject  was  so  painful,  indeed,  that  between 
Edward  and  herself  it  was  tacitly  ignored.  Charlie  they 
could  not  help  sometimes  talking  about ;  but  reference  to  the 
secret  was  religiously  avoided,  and  trust  matters  were  men- 
tioned only  when  absolutely  necessary,  and  as  briefly  as 
possible. 

Two  days  after  the  catastrophe  Edward  and  his  mother 
returned  to  Peele.  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  have  had  her  stay 
longer,  but  INIrs.  Prince  pleaded  a  yearning  for  home,  quite 
natural  in  the  circumstances,  and  insisted  on  going  back  with 
her  son.  And  she  had  another  motive  for  hurrying  away. 
Her  friend's  presence  had  become  painful  to  her,  it  kept  her 
in  mind  of  her  lost  boy  and  the  broken  trust,  and  her  nerves 
being  unstrung  she  was  in  mortal  dread  lest  she  should  say 
or  do  something  which  might  betray  the  secret  or  give  a 
clue  to  her  thoughts. 

Charlie's  death,  coming  so  soon  after  his  father's,  naturally 
made  a  sensation  at  Peele,  and  general  sympathy  was  shown 
for  the  bereaved  family.  Cards  were  left  by  the  score,  but 
Mrs.  Prince  shut  herself  in  her  room,  and  for  several  days 
refused  to  see  even  her  most  intimate  friends. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE.  22  i 

Before  leaving  Whitebeach  Edward  made  it  known  that  he 
would  pay  fifty  pounds  for  the  finding  of  his  brother's  body, 
and  arranged  with  a  local  coastguard  officer  to  send  him  in- 
stant information  of  its  recovery — if  it  should  be  recovered. 

His  next  proceeding  was  to  advise  the  secretary  of  the 
^gis  of  Charlie's  death.  He  said  nothing  about  the  conse- 
quent rupture  of  the  negotiation  for  the  surrender  of  the  policy. 
That  was  a  matter  of  course. 

Edward  awaited  Mr.  Cutter's  answer  with  some  anxiety, 
for  he  was  not  so  sure  of  getting  the  money  quickly  as  he 
had  led  his  mother  to  believe ;  and,  Charlie  being  dead,  Mrs. 
Lincoln  might  appoint  another  trustee  at  once,  though,  as 
yet,  she  had  expressed  no  such  intention,  and  he  had  been 
careful  not  to  moot  the  subject.  As  it  happened,  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln meant  to  appoint  Mr.  Marsh,  and  only  refrained  from 
informing  Edward  of  her  decision  out  of  a  feeling  of  delicacy. 
It  would  not  be  nice,  she  thought,  to  trouble  him  about  busi- 
ness so  soon  after  poor  Charlie's  death. 

The  Secretary's  answer  came  in  due  course.  It  Avas  short 
and  dry.  He  said  how  sorry  he  was  to  hear  of  Mr.  Charles 
Prince's  death,  and  that  he  had  taken  note  of  his  correspon- 
dent's communication,  and  would  lay  it  before  his  directors. 

This  meant  that  the  company  would  not  pay  the  sum  due 
under  the  policy  until  they  had  received  satisfactory  proof  of 
Charlie's  decease,  proof  of  which,  in  the  circumstances,  it  was 
not  easy  to  furnish.  Edward  could  only  say  that,  to  the  best 
of  his  belief,  his  brother  had  perished,  and  point  out  that,  in 
view  of  the  facts,  no  other  theory  was  tenable.  As,  however, 
he  had  not  seen  him  drown,  it  Avas  open  to  the  company  to 
hold  a  different  opinion  ;  and,  though  they  must  pay  event- 
ually, they  could  procrastinate  so  long  as  to  put  Edward  in  a 
serious  predicament.  And  it  would  be  as  impolite  to  show 
eagerness  as  to  affect  indifference  ;  in  the  one  case  they  might 
think  that  he  had  urgent  need  of  the  money,  in  the  other,  that 
he  had  so  little  confidence  in  the  justice  of  his  claim  that  he 
hesitated  to  urge  it. 

Altogether  Edward  Prince  found  himself  in  an  embarrass- 
ing position.  If  the  body  were  found  his  difficulties  would 
of  course  be  at  an  end ;  the  proof  of  Charlie's  decease  would 
be  complete  ;  but  that  v.'as  a  piece  of  good  fortune  on  which 
(though  he  had  done  his  best  to  bring  it  to  pass)  it  would 
not  be  safe  to  count. 


222  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

His  final  decision  was  to  delay  further  action  for  a  few 
days.  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  fortunately  said  nothing  further 
about  the  appointment  of  another  trustee,  and  even  when  he 
did  receive  her  instructions  in  the  matter  he  need  not  carry 
them  out  at  once. 

It  was  probably  these  perplexities,  or  the  shock  of  Charlie's 
death,  or  the  two  causes  combined,  which  made  Edward  so 
nervous  at  this  time.  Did  anybody  accost  him  abruptly  he 
would  start  and  turn  pale.  A  knock  at  his  door  put  him  in 
a  shake,  and  Avhen  a  telegram  was  brought  to  him  he  would 
let  it  lie  on  the  table  until  the  bearer  left  the  room,  and  then 
open  it  with  tremulous  fingers.  Once,  as  he  was  walking  up 
the  street,  absorbed  in  thought,  a  friend  laid  his  hand  on 
Edward's  shoulder.  For  a  minute  or  two  he  seemed  like  to 
faint.  His  knees  knocked  together,  his  face  became  almost 
ghastly,  and  he  staggered  as  if  he  were  going  to  fall. 

"  How  poor  Charlie's  death  has  taken  hold  of  Ned  Prince  !  " 
said  the  friend  afterwards  to  another  friend.  "  And  no 
wonder.  It  must  have  been  a  terrible  experience.  I  never 
saw  a  man  so  changed." 

All  his  other  friends  ascribed  Edward's  nervousness  to  the 
same  cause — all  save  Lillywhite,  who  was  watching  him 
closely,  partly  on  general  principles,  partly  because  he  had 
conceived  certain  doubts. 

The  old  clerk  felt  Charlie's  death  deeply,  and  in  the  man- 
ner of  it,  as  related  by  Edward,  there  was  something  which 
struck  him  as  being  strange,  if  not  suspicious.  The  younger 
brother,  albeit  a  fair,  was  by  no  means  a  powerful  swimmer, 
and  being,  moreover,  out  of  practice,  it  was  not  likely  that  in 
the  open  sea  he  would  venture  far  from  an  unanchored  and 
possibly  drifting  boat,  especially  with  Edward's  warning  ring- 
ing in  his  ears.  Lillywhite  gave  him  credit  for  better  sense. 
It  was  also  noteworthy  that  Edward  discussed  the  incident 
like  one  repeating  a  lesson  learned  by  rote,  and  when  ques- 
tioned on  the  subject  showed  irritation. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  story  were  not  true,  how  far  was 
it  false  and  what  had  really  happened  ? 

Here  Lillywhite  was  baffled.  Two  or  three  theories  sug- 
gested themselves,  but  none  of  them  quite  fitted  the  facts  or 
was  sufficiently  probable  for  acceptance, 

Edward  unquestionably  gained  by  his  brother's  death.  It 
had  rid  him  of  a  rival,  and  would  enable  him  to  reinstate 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  223 

Mrs.  Lincoln's  trust  fund — to  the  Prince  family  almost  a 
matter  of  life  and  death.  Hence  there  was  a  strong  motive 
for  foul  play. 

Lillywhite  did  not  stop  to  consider  whether  Edward  was 
capable  of  foul  play,  which  in  this  instance  meant,  of  course, 
compassing  his  brother's  death.  The  old  clerk  was  naturally 
cynical.  In  the  law  courts  and  elsewhere  he  had  seen  a  good 
deal  of  the  seamy  side  of  life,  and  it  was  a  common  saying  of 
his  that,  after  Jonathan  Salmon,  he  could  believe  anybody  cap- 
able of  anythmg.  Thirty  years  previously  Salmon  had  been 
one  of  the  most  prominent  and  respected  inhabitants  of  Peele. 
A  Quaker  of  the  old  type,  forward  in  every  good  work,  ener- 
getic in  well  doing,  of  a  probity  beyond  doubt,  he  died  in  the 
odor  of  sanctity  and  amid  a  chorus  of  lamentations.  But 
hardly  had  he  been  laid  in  the  ground  than  it  was  discovered 
that  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  had  been  systematically 
defrauding  a  savings  bank,  of  which  he  was  the  principal 
trustee.  His  defalcations  reached  a  total  of  seventy  thousand 
pounds. 

So  Lillywhite  had  some  warrant  for  his  cynicism ;  and  he 
held  that  it  could  not  be  predicted  with  certainty  of  any  man 
that  his  integrity  would  hold  out  against  great  temptations  or 
severe  pressure. 

Edward  Prince  was  just  as  likely  to  commit  a  murder  as 
Jonathan  Salmon  had  been  to  rob  a  savings  bank,  a  crime 
quite  as  bad  as  murder.  It  was,  however,  doubtful  whether 
he  had  the  nerve  to  do  anything  so  desperate,  and  whether, 
even  though  he  had,  he  would  consider  the  probable  profit 
commensurate  with  the  appalling  risk.  Moreover,  he  was 
physically  weaker  and  less  agile  than  Charlie,  and  though  he 
might  shoot  or  stab  him  unawares,  the  body,  if  found — and 
the  finding  was  at  least  possible — would  be  damning  evidence 
against  him. 

"  No,"  said  Lillywhite  to  himself,  after  long  pondering.  "  I 
don't  think  it  is  a  case  of  fratricide.  The  motive  isn't  suffi- 
cient. Also  he  lacks  the  courage  ;  and  to  give  the  devil  his 
due,  I  don't  think  he  is  wicked  enough.  But  then  why  is  he 
so  nervous  and  restless  ?  Grief?  No,  grief  doesn't  take  that 
shape.  Besides,  I  doubt  whether  he  does  grieve.  There  was 
never  much  love  lost  between  them,  and  he  has  fifteen  thou- 
sand reasons  for  not  fretting." 

And  then  Lillywhite  considered  another  hypothesis.     Was 


224  ^^^-^  PKIA'CES  OF  PEELE. 

it  a  scheme  to  defraud  the  insurance  company  ?  Nothing 
would  be  easier  than  for  Edward  to  put  Charlie  ashore  (dis- 
guised, say,  as  a  sailor)  in  some  out-of-the-way  place,  and  then 
pretend  he  had  been  accidentally  drowned. 

In  his  heart  the  clerk  did  not  think  that  Charlie  would  lend 
himself  to  so  nefarious  a  scheme.  Yet  there  was  no  telling. 
He  was  of  a  generous,  confiding  nature,  easily  led  (if  you  took 
him  on  the  right  side),  his  mother  and  Edward  were  master- 
ful and  in  desperate  straits,  and  it  was  just  conceivable  that 
under  pressure  and  to  save  his  father's  name  from  dishonor 
he  might  have  consented  to  efface  himself  and  commit  a  fraud. 
Only  just,  however,  and  when  Lillywhite  remembered  that 
Charlie  could  not  efface  himself  without  sacrificing  Olive 
Lincoln  he  perceived  that  it  was  not  conceivable  at  all. 
Another  objection  to  the  theory  was  the  fact  that  up  to  the 
time  of  his  leaving  Peele  Charlie  knew  nothing  of  the  breach 
of  trust.  Only  the  day  before  he  went  they  were  talking  of 
his  appointment  as  Mrs.  Lincoln's  trustee,  Avhen  Lillywhite 
(by  way  of  sounding  him)  observed  that  the  office  of  trustee 
was  always  thankless  and  often  hazardous. 

"  Not  in  this  instance,"  answered  the  young  fellow  gaily. 
"  I  regard  the  appointment  as  an  honor  ;  and  as  for  hazard, 
what  hazard  can  there  be  when  every  shilling  of  the  trust 
fund  is  in  Consols?" 

It  was  simply  impossible  that  in  two  days  and  in  a  strange 
house  Charlie  could  be  persuaded  to  abandon  his  sweetheart, 
his  country,  and  his  name,  and  condemn  himself  to  a  life-long 
exile. 

"  That  theory  won't  wash  either,  not  a  bit,"  was  Lillywhite's 
conclusion,  and  but  for  the  strangeness  of  Edward's  de- 
meanor since  the  occurrence  he  would  have  been  disposed 
to  regard  his  account  of  it  as  true. 

Edward's  manner  was  less  that  of  a  man  suffering  from 
grief  or  remorse  than  of  one  who  was  in  a  chronic  state  of 
apprehension  and  fear. 

The  "  ofiice  "  was  once  concerned  in  the  defence  of  some 
poachers,  who  were  accused  of  killing  the  keeper,  and  the 
"  office  "  (meaning  thereby  the  managing  clerk)  got  them  off. 
After  their  acquittal  Lillywhite  had  a  long  talk  with  the  ring- 
leader, who  frankly  admitted  that  it  was  he  who  had  struck 
the  fatal  blow,  and  he  vividly  described  his  sensations  be- 
tween the  affray  and  his  arrest.    He  hoped  (vainly  as  it  turned 


TflE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  225 

out)  that  by  staying  quietly  at  home  he  should  escape  sus- 
picion. But  his  nerves  were  always  on  edge.  If  the  door 
opened  he  would  nearly  jump  out  of  his  skin,  if  he  heard 
footsteps  during  the  night  he  would  break  into  a  cold  sweat, 
if  anybody  touched  him  unawares  he  felt  like  to  drop,  and  he 
protested  that  until  he  found  himself  "  in  quod,"  he  did  not 
know  a  moment's  peace.  It  was  not  conscience  that  made  a 
coward  of  him  (in  his  moral  code  the  killing  of  a  keeper  was 
no  crime),  it  was  fear,  and  after  his  acquittal  the  man  was  as 
serene  as  a  saint. 

Edward  Prince's  symptoms  so  far  resembled  the  poacher's  as 
to  suggest  that  they  proceeded  from  a  similar  cause.  This 
was  the  somewhat  abortive  outcome  of  Lillywhite's  pon- 
derings.  Time  might  bring  a  solution  of  the  enigma.  For 
the  present  all  he  could  do  was  to  keep  his  eye  on  Edward 
and  await  developments. 

Meanwhile,  he  had  done  a  little  stroke  of  business  which 
greatly  pleased  him. 

So  soon  as  Olive  rallied  a  little  from  the  shock  of  Charlie's 
death,  she  bethought  her  of  the  letters  which  in  her  anger 
she  had  asked  him  to  return.  They  contained  nothing  of 
which  she  had  any  reason  to  be  ashamed,  but  much  that  she 
would  not  like  anybody  else,  especially  Edward,  to  read.  She 
knew  that  Lillywhite  had  been  in  Charlie's  confidence,  and 
believed  he  was  a  man  whom  she  might  safely  trust.  So  she 
wrote  a  guarded  though  pathetic  little  missive,  beseeching 
him,  if  he  could  to  get  the  letters  which  she  had  written  to 
"  Mr.  Charles,"  and  send  them  to  her  as  soon  as  possible. 
It  was  an  extreme  course,  and  only  adopted  because  it  seemed 
the  lesser  of  two  evils. 

Lillywhite,  on  his  part,  accepted  the  commission  with  pleas- 
ure and  performed  it  with  alacrity.  He  opened  Charlie's 
desk  with  a  key — one  of  a  score  borrowed  from  the  locksmith 
— found  the  letters,  and  forwarded  them  to  Miss  Lincoln  by 
return  of  post,  together  with  one  of  his  own,  in  which  he  felici- 
tated himself  on  having  it  in  his  power  to  serve  her,  assured 
her  of  his  sympathy,  and  protested  (without  much  exaggera- 
tion) that  he  had  loved  Mr.  Charles  as  his  own  son. 

Olive  answered  with  a  graceful  letter  of  thanks,  and  the  old 
clerk  felt  that  he  had  scored  again.  He  had  placed  Miss 
Lincoln  under  an  obligation,  added  to  his  store  of  secrets, 
and  secured  two  letters  which  might  come  in  useful. 


226  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  when  Edward  Prince  returned  from 
Whitebeach,  and  looked  over  his  brother's  papers,  he  found, 
to  his  surprise,  and  rather  to  his  disappointment,  nothing  re- 
lating to  Olive,  from  which  he  rashly  inferred  that  Charlie 
had  cared  so  little  for  his  sweetheart  that  he  had  not  taken 
the  trouble  to  preserve  her  letters. 

Edward  never  guessed  that  they  had  been  purloined,  and 
the  incident  was  quickly  forgotten  ;  but,  being  naturally  acute 
and  morbidly  sensitive,  he  was  not  long  in  perceiving  that 
Lillywhite  was  watching  him — with  suspicion.  The  idea, 
besides  making  him  angry,  increased  his  nervousness,  and  he 
resolved,  when  he  had  got  the  insurance  money  and  replaced 
the  misappropriated  stock,  to  give  his  managing  clerk  the 
sack. 

"  The  old  villain  knows  a  good  deal — a  good  deal  too 
much,"  he  thought  one  day  as  he  sat  at  his  desk  moodily 
despondent.  "  Suspects  rather,  for  his  knowledge  is  not  sus- 
ceptible of  proof,  and  I  don't  think  he  could  hurt  me  ;  nobody 
would  believe  him,  and  now  Charlie  is " 

Here  Edward's  reflections  were  interrupted  by  a  knock  at 
the  door,  whereat  he  started  violently, 

"  Hang  it  !  "  he  muttered.     "  Shall  I  never  get  over  this 

confounded  nervousness.     If  I  could  only  make  sure 

Come  in  !  " 

It  was  Lillywhite  with  a  telegram. 

"Why  didn't  you  let  one  of  the  boys  bring  it?"  asked 
Edward  crossly.  *'  Your  time  is  too  valuable  to  be  carrying 
telegrams  about." 

"  I  wanted  to  speak  to  you  about  that  matter  of  Ardwick's, 
so  I  thought  I  might  as  well  bring  you  the  despatch,"  returned 
Lillywhite  deferentially. 

Edward,  changing  countenance  in  spite  of  himself,  opened 
the  telegram  with  hesitating  fingers.  After  reading  it  twice 
he  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  I  must  go  to  Whitebeach  by  the  next  train,"  he  said, 
handing  the  message  to  Lillywhite.     It  ran  thus — 

"  A  body,  supposed  to  be  your  brother's,  has  been  found 
by  some  fishermen.     You  had  better  come  at  once." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


227 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A  NARROW  SHAVE. 

LiLLYWHiTE  was  a  man  of  feelings  :  his  expressive  nose 
changed  color,  and  he  wiped  his  eyes  with  a  huge  bandana 
pocket-handkerchief.  The  recovery  of  the  body  seemed  to 
bring  the  fact  of  Charlie's  death  more  home  to  him  and  make 
it  more  terrible.  "  God  bless  me  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Why, 
it  is  nearly  a  month  since  the  accident.  I  had  given  up  all 
hope." 

"  So  had  I — nearly.  However,  you  see  what  they  say. 
Scholes  must  take  the  dog-cart  to  Holmcroft  and  fetch  me 
some  things  ;  and  I  shall  want  money.  Here  is  a  check  for 
eighty  pounds  ;  get  sixty  in  small  notes  and  twenty  in  gold. 
I  offered  a  reward  of  fifty  pounds  and  there  will  be  other 
expenses.  Stay !  What  was  it  you  wanted  to  ask  me 
about  ?  " 

*'  That  matter  of  Ardwick's." 

"  Does  he  make  any  definite  offer  ?  " 

"Yes,  twenty  down  and  the  balance  by  equal  monthly 
instalments." 

"  Accept  it.  One  moment  (writing).  Let  Scholes  give 
this  note  to  my  mother." 

\Mien  Lillywhite  was  gone  Edward  went  to  his  bookcase, 
took  out  of  it  a  work  on  medical  jurisprudence,  and  turning 
to  the  chapter  on  "  Drowning,"  studied  it  with  close  atten- 
tion for  half-an-hour.  Then,  leaning  back  in  his  chair  he 
covered  his  face  with  his  hands  and  shuddered,  murmuring : 
— "  It  has  to  be  done.  I  must  go  through  with  it,  must,  must. 
To  shirk  it  would  give  rise  to  damaging  suspicions,  and  if 
the  body  be  identified  as  his  the  ^gis  must  pay  up  at  once, 
and  that  danger  will  be  out  of  the  way  and  off  my  mind." 

Here  there  was  another  knock  at  the  door,  Edward 
roused  himself,  wiped  the  perspiration  from  his  face,  and 
bade  the  knocker  come  in.     It  was  Lillywhite  again. 


228  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  have  sent  Scholes  and  been  to  the  bank,  and  here  is 
the  money,"  he  said,  going  up  to  the  desk. 

Edward,  who  had  been  momentarily  oblivious  of  the  book, 
closed  it  hurriedly  and  pushed  the  volume  aside ;  yet  not  be- 
fore Lillywhite  had  noted  the  heading  of  the  open  page  : — 
"  Found  dead." 

"  Can  I  do  anything  more  for  you,  sir  ?  "  he  asked,  as  he 
counted  out  the  notes  and  gold. 

"  I  don't  think  so.  Yes,  call  at  the  Town  Hall  and  tell  the 
Mayor  where  I  am  gone  ;  but  ask  him  to  keep  it  to  himself 
for  the  present,  or  the  Mercury  people  will  be  sending  a 
reporter  down,  and  those  are  fellows  I  hate." 

"  Very  well,  sir." 

Lillywhite  left  the  room,  musing. 

"Found  dead,"  he  thought.  "Very  likely,  I  should  say. 
They  were  sure  to  find  the  body — or  some  body — at  that 
price.  Fifty  pounds  is  a  fortune  for  a  Whitebeach  fisherman. 
And  is  a  body  recognizable  after  three  or  four  weeks'  immer- 
son  ?  I  must  have  a  look  at  that  book  when  he  is  gone. 
No  wonder  he  is  upset.  But  why  does  he  look  so  scared  ? 
It  should  be  a  satisfaction  to  him,  and  I  know  it  will  be  to 
his  mother  to  have  the  poor  lad  decently  buried,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  getting  the  insurance  money  now  instead  of  waiting 
for  another  month  or  two.  Gad  !  he  did  look  scared  and  no 
mistake.  That  telegram  might  have  been  a  ghost,  and  he 
has  not  got  over  it  yet.     Queer,  very  queer." 

Three  hours  later  Edward  Prince  was  at  Whitebeach. 
He  had  telegraphed  to  Job,  the  old  fisherman,  to  meet  him  at 
the  station,  and  the  two  walked  together  by  the  fields  to  the 
Wheat  Sheaf,  a  little  inn  by  the  seashore,  where  Edward 
proposed  to  put  up.  The  body  had  been  recovered  by  Job 
and  two  of  his  mates,  with  whom  he  would  have  to  share  the 
reward.  As  the  boatman  described  the  finding  of  the  body 
(on  a  sandbank  off  Thornby  Point)  and  its  appearance  in  the 
bluntest  of  language,  sparing  no  detail,  Mr.  Prince  became 
painfully  affected  and  bade  him  peremptorily  to  stop  :  nor 
was  conversation  resumed  until  he  had  fortified  himself  with 
a  stiff  glass  of  the  Wheat  Sheaf's  brandy. 

Job  had  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  body  being  Mr, 
Charles's.  He  never  forgot  a  face,  and  though  the  "  poor 
young  gentleman"  was  naturally  much  altered,  anybody 
could    "  tell   him."     His    mates   were   equally    sure.     The 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  229 

coroner  had  been  notified  and  was  going  to  hold  the 
inquest  on  the  following  day.  The  body  lay  at  the  coast- 
guard station — would  Mr.  Prince  like  to  see  it  ? 

There  was  nothing  in  the  world  that  Edward  wanted  less 
to  see,  but  as  the  seeing  was  a  necessity  and  hesitation 
might  engender  suspicion  he  overcame  his  repugnance  and 
signified  his  assent.  After  steadying  his  nerves  with  another 
drink,  and,  standing  a  glass  of  rum  for  Job,  he  went  to  the 
place  in  question  and  was  shown  by  the  officer  on  duty  into 
the  room,  where  his  brother's  remains  were  laid. 

The  ordeal  was  almost  more  than  F  Iward  could  bear. 
He  paused  at  the  threshold  several  seconds,  then  went  for- 
ward, visibly  trembling  and  leaning  against  the  wall  for 
support.  After  gazing  at  the  ghastly  sight  for  a  few  minutes 
like  one  fascinated,  he  crept,  with  bent  head,  from  the  room. 

"  It  do  look  bad,  that's  sure.  It's  changed  a  good  deal  for 
the  worse  since  yesterday,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Rentoul  ? "  said  Job. 

"  It  is,  indeed.  They  always  do  on  exposure  to  the  air. 
The  salt  water  acts  as  a  preservative." 

"  Ay,  ay,  a  sort  of  pickle,  I've  heard  say.  I  felt  sure  as 
it  'ud  turned  up  sooner  or  later.  I've  known  'em  washed 
ashore  two  months  arter.  I  was  the  first  to  spot  it,  aground 
on  the  Horse  Bank  at  low  tide.  You  can  see  the  waves 
breaking  over  it  now,  sir  ;  about  two  miles  west  o'  th'  Point." 

But  Edward,  who  still  looked  and  felt  very  queer,  neither 
answered  nor  turned  his  head.  As  they  returned  to  the  inn, 
Job  asked  whether  Mr.  Prince  did  not  think  that  he  and  his 
mate  had  earned  the  reward. 

"  I'll  tell  you  that  after  the  inquest,"  answered  Edward, 
who  was  recovering  his  composure. 

"  What  has  that  to  do  with  it  t  " 

"The  jury  may  decide  that  the  body  is  not  my  brother's  ?  " 

"  Not  unless  you  swears  as  it  isn't.  Me  and  my  mates,  we 
know  as  it  is.  We  saw  him  afore  the  change  set  in  ;  and 
you  know  it  too,  though  he  does  look  different.  Don't  you, 
now  ? " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  think  it  is  my  poor  brother's  body — certainly." 

"  Of  course  you  do.  So  does  everybody  in  these  parts. 
Let  me  see,  didn't  you  say  as  he  went  into  the  water  stark 
naked  ? " 

"  I  did." 

*'  Well,  he  was  found  so.     That's  another  proof,  and  you 


230  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

may  take  your  davy  as  the  jury  will  say  as  you  and  me 
says." 

"  In  that  case  you  will  get  the  reward  right  away.  I  have 
it  with  me"  (tapping  his  pocket). 

Old  Job  proved  a  true  prophet.  On  the  following  day  the 
coroner's  jury  viewed  the  body — Edward,  to  his  great  dis- 
comfort, being  present — and  heard  the  evidence.  The  local 
medical  practitioner  said  the  body  was  that  of  a  person  who 
had  been  drowned,  and  remained  in  the  water  from  twenty 
to  thirty  days,  and  gave  minute  particulars  touching  his  prob- 
able height  and  age,  the  color  of  his  eyes  and  hair  and  the 
rest.  Job  and  his  two  mates  described  the  finding  of  the 
body,  which  they  recognized  at  once  as  that  of  Mr.  Charles 
Prince.  It  was  quite  without  clothes  and  the  face  was  very 
little  changed.  Edward  gave  his  account  of  the  way  in 
which  his  brother  lost  his  life,  and  said  that  to  the  best  of 
his  belief  the  body  which  they  had  viewed  was  that  of 
Charles  Prince. 

In  this  sense  the  jury  rendered  their  verdict,  and  when  the 
necessary  formalities  had  been  observed  the  body  was  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  relatives,  and  Job  and  his  mates  re- 
ceived their  reward. 

After  telegraphing  to  his  mother  and  Lillywhite,  and  mak- 
ing such  arrangements  as  the  circumstances  required,  Ed- 
ward returned  to  Peele.  He  did  not  call  at  the  Pines.  The 
Lincolns  were  in  London.  When  their  guests  were  gone  the 
loneliness  and  associations  of  the  place  became  unbearable. 
Mrs.  Lincoln  moped,  and  Olive,  despite  heroic  efforts  to 
"  keep  up,"  began  to  droop.  As  she  could  not  go  out  with- 
out being  continually  reminded  of  Charlie  and  his  terrible 
end  she  stayed  in,  and  though  she  never  complained,  her 
mother  could  see  that  the  girl  suffered — how  much  she  never 
knew.  The  wound  was  deeper  than  she  supposed,  and  while 
they  remained  at  Whitebeach  was  unlikely  to  heal.  The 
sooner  they  got  away  the  better.  So  one  morning  at  break- 
fast, Mrs.  Lincoln,  after  observing  that  if  she  stayed  there 
longer  she  should  go  melancholy  mad,  said  she  had  made 
up  her  mind  to  start  for  London  that  very  day,  and  told  her 
daughter  to  pack  up  "  right  away."  Her  idea  was  to  keep 
Olive  from  brooding,  and  when  they  got  to  town  she  called 
on  all  the  people  she  knew  and  accepted  all  the  invitations 
she  received,  and  went  in  generally  for  all  the  gaieties  that 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  231 

were  going  on.  To  Olive  this  was  repugnant ;  her  mood 
was  not  gay.  She  would  much  rather  have  been  allowed  to 
brood  in  peace  ;  but  as  her  lover's  death  had  tamed  her  high 
spirits  and  impaired  her  power  of  resistance,  and  she  knew 
that  her  mother  meant  kindly,  she  submitted  passively, 
though  often  reluctantly,  to  her  guidance.  And  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln's management  was  so  far  good  that  it  distracted  Olive's 
thoughts,  took  her  out  of  herself,  and  little  by  little  dulled 
the  sharpness  of  her  sorrow. 

Among  other  friends  whom  they  met  in  London  was  Mr. 
Marsh,  who  had  just  returned  from  the  Continent.  In  her 
usual  straightforward  way  Mrs.  Lincoln  asked  him  to  be  her 
second  trustee.  At  the  outset  he  demurred,  on  the  ground 
that  her  settled  fortune  being  invested  in  England  she  had 
better  choose  somebody  who  was  sure  to  remain  in  the 
country,  and  he  was  not  sure  ;  but  when  she  pointed  out 
that  as  the  money  was  in  consols,  and  had  to  stay  in  consols, 
and  as  Edward  Prince  attended  to  all  the  details,  there  was 
really  nothing  in  the  world  for  him  to  do  except  sign  a  deed, 
he  consented — stipulating,  however,  that  a  draft  of  the  in- 
strument in  question,  together  with  the  deed  of  settlement, 
should  be  submitted  to  his  own  solicitor.  Mr.  Marsh  had 
every  confidence  in  Mr.  Prince,  but,  as  he  aptly  observed, 
business  was  business,  and  he  made  it  a  rule  never  to  sign 
an  important  document  without  taking  legal  advice. 

To  this  condition  Mrs.  Lincoln  gave  a  willing  assent,  and 
wrote  straightway  to  Edward  Prince,  advising  him  what 
she  had  done,  and  that  he  would  presently  receive  a  com- 
munication from  Mr.  Marsh's  solicitor,  as,  in  effect,  he  did, 
a  few  days  later.  Mr.  Bunch,  the  gentleman  in  question, 
acting  on  instructions  received  from  his  client,  asked  for  a 
draft  of  the  proposed  deed  of  appointment,  together  with  a 
statement  of  the  precise  amount  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  fortune 
and  the  manner  of  its  investment. 

This  letter  gave  Edward  a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour.  As 
yet,  though  he  had  told  Mrs.  Lincoln  (no  witness  being  pre- 
sent) that  her  fortune  was  still  invested  in  Government  stock, 
he  had  not  committed  himself  to  the  assertion  in  writing.  So 
far,  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  offence  more  serious  than  a 
supprcssio  veri  (the  lie,  being  incapable  of  proof,  did  not 
count),  and,  to  make  a  positively  false  statement  under  his 
own  hand,  besides  being  dangerous,  would  do  violence  to  his 


232  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

legal  conscience.  Wherefore  he  wrote  a  polite  letter  to  Mr. 
Bunch,  to  the  effect  that  owing  to  the  tragical  death  of  his 
brother  (of  which  his  correspondent  might  have  heard),  he 
was  for  the  moment  quite  unable  to  attend  to  business,  but 
as  soon  after  the  funeral  as  possible  the  matter  should  have 
his  attention. 

Edward  believed  that  this  would  keep  Mr.  Bunch  quiet  for 
a  few  days,  probably  for  two  or  three  weeks,  or  until  Mrs. 
Lincoln  (to  whom  he  forwarded  a  copy  of  his  letter)  moved 
Mr.  Marsh  to  further  inquiry. 

The  funeral  was  conducted  very  quietly,  only  a  few  of  the 
more  intimate  friends  of  the  family  being  invited,  and  as  the 
lead  coffin  had  been  soldered  up  at  Whitebeach,  none  of 
them  saw  the  body.  Seeing  that  the  body  had  been  nearly 
a  month  in  the  water  the  soldering  was  absolutely  necessary, 
explained  Edward,  and  when  his  mother  expressed  a  wish  to 
take  a  last  look  at  the  poor  boy,  he  said  significantly,  that 
if  she  wished  to  retain  a  pleasant  recollection  of  him  she  had 
better  not,  and  the  subject  dropped. 

Nobody  saw  in  the  proceeding  anything  strange — save 
Lillywhite,  who,  collating  it  with  certain  facts  wliereof  he 
alone  was  cognizant,  regarded  it  as  suspicious,  and  by  way 
of  setthng  his  doubts — or  confirming  them,  as  the  case 
might  be — betook  himself  on  the  following  Saturday  to 
Whitebeach,  put  up  at  the  Wheat  Sheaf,  foregathered  with 
Job  and  a  few  of  his  fellows,  drank  and  "  stood  "  a  good 
many  glasses  of  rum,  and  the  next  evening  returned  to  Peele 
with  an  aching  head,  yet  well  content  withal,  for  he  had  ac- 
quired information  which  gave  him  something  to  think  about 
and  might  prove  useful. 

Meanwhile,  Edward  Prince  had  written  a  second  letter  to 
the  Assurance  Company,  in  which  he  enclosed  documentary 
evidence  of  his  brother's  death  and  inquired,  rather  peremp- 
torily when  it  would  suit  them  to  pay  the  amount  due  under 
the  policy. 

By  return  of  post  came  a  highly-satisfactory  reply  from 
Mr.  Cutter.  His  directors  had  passed  the  claim,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  current  month  a  check  for  fifteen  thousand 
pounds  would  be  at  Mr.  Prince's  disposal,  as  surviving  part- 
ner m  the  firm,  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  policy. 

At  the  same  time  Edward  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bunch 
asking  when  he  might  expect  the  draft  of  the  deed  cf  appoint- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


233 


ment,  as  promised.  His  client  was  going  on  a  journey  and 
would  like  to  have  the  business  settled  as  soon  as  possible. 
Edward,  now  as  prompt  as  he  had  previously  been  dilatory, 
sent  Mr.  Bunch  the  document  by  return  of  post,  and  inti- 
mated that  as  soon  as  Mr,  Marsh  signified  his  approval  of  the 
draft  he  would  have  it  engrossed ;  and  the  Government  stock 
in  which  the  trust  fund  was  invested,  now  standing  in  his 
name  and  his  mother's  should  be  transferred  to  Mr.  Marsh 
and  himself. 

"  A  narrow  shave,"  thought  Edward  as  he  signed  the  letter, 
"  a  very  narrow  shave.  I  could  not  have  put  them  off  more 
than  another  week,  or  a  fortnight  at  the  outside." 

"  Thank  God  !  "  exclaimed  his  mother  fervently,  when  he 
told  her  that  the  broken  trust  had  been  reinstated  and  there 
was  nothing  to  fear.  "  Thank  God  !  It  seems  almost  prov- 
idential, don't  you  think  so,  dear  ?  " 

Her  son  made  no  answer  ;  he  doubted  whether  Providence 
had  any  hand  in  the  affair ;  and  to  do  Mrs.  Prince  justice, 
she  was  just  then  thinking  less  of  Charlie's  death  than  immi- 
nent danger  narrowly  escaped  and  a  husband's  name  saved 
from  dishonor  ;  while  Edward's  thoughts  were  of  a  bright 
day  and  a  sunlit  sea,  a  boat  gliding  before  the  wind,  two 
brothers  fiercely  wrangling  and 

"  You  shiver  dear,  don't  you  feel  well }  "  asked  his  mother 
anxiously. 

"  I  have  got  a  little  chill,  I  think — perhaps  a  drop  of 
brandy " 

And  with  that  he  went  to  the  sideboard,  filled  a  large  wine 
glass  with  cognac  and  drank  it  neat. 


234  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

LILLYWniTE    LEARNS    ANOTHER    SECRET. 

Things  seldom  fall  out  as  we  anticipate  ;  provisions,  like 
friends,  are  apt  to  prove  untrue,  and  even  when  the  wish 
fathered  by  the  thought  comes  to  pass  the  result  does  not 
always  harmonize  with  our  hopes.  Edward  Prince  and  his 
mother  had  escaped  a  great  danger  by  the  skin  of  their  teeth, 
they  had  shot  the  rapids  and  were  floating  down  stream  in 
smooth  water  and  fair  weather.  Yet  they  were  not  happy. 
Released  from  incessant  preoccupation  and  impending  peril, 
and  having  leisure  for  thought,  Mrs.  Prince  began  to  count 
the  cost  of  her  deliverance — years  of  corroding  care,  two 
precious  lives,  an  abiding  sense  of  remorse  and  a  lonely  old 
age.  This  was  not  quite  logical.  Edward  had  assured  her, 
and  she  could  not  gainsay,  that  the  broken  trust  was  not  even 
remotely  responsible  for  Charlie's  death,  and  she  was  con- 
tinually assuring  herself  that  she  had  acted  for  the  best  and 
themeans  were  justified  by  the  end.  But  the  human  mind  is 
as  little  ruled  by  logic  as  life  itself,  and  Mrs.  Prince  could  no 
more  help  connecting  Charlie's  death  with  her  husband's 
oifence  than  hush  "  the  still  small  voice,"  when  in  the  watches 
of  the  night  it  accused  her  of  having  been  his  evil  genius  and 
the  indirect  cause  of  his  death. 

And  Edward,  though  he  no  longer  trembled  and  turned 
pale  when  a  friend  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  was  not  the 
man  he  had  been.  Some  people  said  he  was  a  better  man, 
and  in  the  sense  that  his  manners  were  softer  and  he  bore 
himself  less  arrogantly  than  of  yore  this  was  true.  He  was 
also  more  sensitive ;  the  mere  mention  of  his  brother's  name 
sufficing  to  make  him  change  countenance,  and  cause  him 
acute  distress,  from  v/hich  most  people  concluded  that  the 
two  had  been  devotedly  attached  to  each  other. 

In  addition  to  qualms  of  conscience  (if  he  were  troubled 
with  any)  Edward  had  two  serious  preoccupations.     One  was 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  235 

Lillywhite.  He  would  fain  have  sent  the  old  clerk  away. 
But  as  yet  he  did  not  dare.  True,  Lillywhite,  although  he 
knew  a  great  deal,  could  prove  nothing,  and  a  discharged 
employe',  who  told  tales  "  out  of  doors,"  was  discredited  by 
the  very  fact.  All  the  same,  Edward  did  not  want  people's 
tongues  to  be  set  wagging  about  him  and  his  affairs  so  soon 
after  Charlie's  death  ;  and  Lillywhite  had  been  so  long  in  the 
office,  was  so  popular  with  clients,  and  so  well  known  in  the 
town,  that  it  would  be  impolitic  to  dismiss  him  without  good 
cause  or  plausible  pretext,  and  at  present  he  had  neither.  So, 
though  it  fretted  him  to  be  continually  under  the  observation 
of  a  man  who  already  knew  too  much,  and  had  a  wonderful 
capacity  for  ferreting  out  secrets,  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  bide  his  time  and  wait  for  an  opportunity  of  getting 
rid  of  him. 

His  other  preoccupation  was  Olive,  whom  he  probably  loved 
with  a  passion  which  surprised  even  himself,  and  whom  on 
merely  money  grounds  it  was  still  well  worth  his  while  to 
marry.  She  was  a  fine  girl,  and  would  make  a  wife  to  be  proud 
of ;  and  well  dowered,  too.  Topper,  Sandboy,  and  Perry- 
winkle,  urged  by  Mr.  Jump,  had  pushed  on  the  winding-up 
of  the  Chancery  suit  so  energetically  that  it  was  going  to  be 
ended  much  sooner  than  anybody  had  thought  possible,  and 
matters  were  so  far  advanced  that  Edward  could  form  a  pretty 
shrewd  guess  as  to  the  value  of  the  salvage.  There  would  be 
a  thousand  a  year  for  Olive,  when  she  was  of  age,  and  after 
her  mother's  death  an  additional  fifteen  hundred — not  enough 
to  make  the  girl  a  great  heiress,  yet  more  than  enough  to 
make  her  a  very  good  match. 

Edward  never  went  to  town  that  he  did  not  call  on  the 
Lincolns,  by  whom  he  was  always  welcomed,  and  whom  he 
naturally  did  his  best  to  please — of  course,  with  special  ref- 
erence to  Miss  Lincoln — and  not  v/ithout  success.  He 
looked  so  careworn,  his  manner  was  so  quiet  and  subdued, 
and  on  the  rare  occasions  when  Charlie's  name  was  men- 
tioned showed  so  much  emotion  that  Olive  was  moved  to 
compassion.  True,  she  had  never  liked  Edward,  and  he  had 
not  always  been  as  good  to  Charlie  as  he  might  have  been. 
All  the  same,  he  was  Charlie's  brother  and  sorrowed  for  him, 
and  on  that  ground  alone  had  a  right  to  her  sympathy  and 
respect.  Whereupon  it  fell  out  that  at  this  time  Olive  was 
kinder  to  Edward  Prince  than    she    had    ever  been  before, 


236  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

thereby  unwittingly  confirming  him  in  the  belief  that  he  might 
win  her  love. 

One  day  he  brought  the  ladies  an  invitation  from  his  mother 
to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  them  at  Holmcroft — if  they  did  not 
mind  being  very  quiet,  for  though  several  months  were  gone 
since  Charlie's  death,  Mrs.  Prince  still  led  a  secluded  life, 
neither  entertaining  nor  "going  out."  But  she  should  be 
delighted  to  see  her  old  friends,  and  felt  sure  that  a  visit  from 
them  would  do  her  good. 

"  And  we  want  something  to  cheer  us  up,"  added  Edward 
plaintively.  "  We  are  frightfully  dull  now  at  Holmcroft.  I 
don't  think  I  should  be  exaggerating  if  I  said  dismal — so 
different  from  what  it  used  to  be." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  said  she  would  leave  it  to  Olive.  The  summer 
was  nearly  over,  and  for  her  own  part  she  should  be  glad  to 
spend  a  few  days  at  Holmcroft  before  they  went  on  the 
Continent,  and  there  were  certain  business  matters  arising 
out  of  the  Chancery  suit  which  could  perhaps  be  dealt  with 
quite  as  conveniently  at  Peele  as  in  London. 

Here  Edward  observed  that  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing 
month  the  suit  would  probably  come  to  an  end,  and  that  in 
the  meantime  he  should  have  frequent  occasion  to  consult 
Mrs.  Lincoln. 

"  All  the  more  reason  for  accepting  your  mother's  kind 
invitation.     What  do  you  say,  Olive  ? " 

"  Certainly,  let  us  go,"  returned  Olive  with  seeming  cheer- 
fulness, though  she  would  rather  not  have  gone,  knowing 
that  the  visit  would  revive  painful  memories,  and  be  more  of 
a  trial  than  a  pleasure,  but  her  mother  evidently  desired  to 
go,  and  it  would  have  been  ungracious  to  refuse  Mrs.  Prince's 
invitation. 

So  Edward  went  home,  if  not  exactly  exuberant,  better  in 
spirits  than  he  had  felt  for  some  time.  Olive's  kindness  and 
ready  acceptance  of  his  mother's  invitation  were  distinctly 
encouraging ;  and  if  a  favorable  occasion  should  present 
itself  during  her  stay  it  might  be  well  to  put  the  momentous 
question  which  he  had  resolved  to  ask.  But  he  would  have 
to  mind  what  he  was  about,  and  look  before  he  leaped.  It 
was  not  very  long  since  "  the  accident,"  and  besides  expos- 
ing him  to  a  rebuff  a  premature  declaration  might  be  fatal 
to  his  hopes.  Olive  had  a  strong  will,  and  if  she  once  said 
"  no"  it  would  not  be  easy  to  persuade  her  to  say  "yes." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  237 

Anyhow,  her  presence  would  brighten  the  house,  and  it 
needed  brightening.  At  the  best,  his  mother  was  not  a  lively 
companion,  and  sometimes  she  kept  her  room  two  or  three 
days  running.  One  night,  shortly  before  his  last  visit  to 
London,  he  had  dined  alone,  his  mother  being  indisposed, 
and  after  the  butler  had  left  him  to  himself  Edward  leaned 
back  in  his  chair  and  thought  of  the  past  and  of  the  home 
and  the  family  as  they  had  been  in  days  gone  by.  In  imag- 
ination he  saw  his  father  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  heard 
his  hearty  laugh  as  he  told  a  merry  tale.  Jack  had  come 
down  from  Liverpool  for  the  Christmas  holidays,  and  opposite 
to  him  sat  Charlie,  full  of  health  and  high  spirits.  It  was  all 
as  objectively  real  as  if  they  had  been  there  in  the  flesh,  and 
he  was  about  to  make  an  observation,  when  a  piteous  cry 
rang  in  his  ears  :  "  Ned  !  Ned  !  "  and  the  bright  face  before 
him  changed  into  the  hideous  semblance  of  the  thing  he  had 
seen  in  the  coastguard  station  at  Whitebeach.  Edward,  who 
had  fallen  into  a  doze,  awoke  groaning,  his  hair  standing  on 
end  and  his  face  streaming  with  perspiration. 

After  this,  whenever  his  mother  could  not  dine  with  him, 
he  dined  at  Peele,  and,  taking  papers  home  with  him,  wrought 
far  into  the  night.  If  he  could  help  it  he  would  never  be 
alone,  and  work  was  the  best  substitute  for  company. 

Mrs.  Prince,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  seem  to  care  for 
company,  and  only  invited  the  Lincolns  for  her  son's  sake 
and  to  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  paying  his  court  to  Olive  ; 
for  though  she  had  latterly  given  little  thought  to  her  old 
match-making  project  she  wanted  to  see  him  happily  married, 
and  knew  that  he  had  set  his  heart  on  marrying  Miss  Lincoln. 

Olive's  presence  brightened  the  house,  as  Edward  had 
expected,  for  the  girl  was  fair  to  see,  but  she  contributed  far 
less  to  its  gaiety  than  her  mother,  who  bustled  about  con- 
tinually, and  did  all  she  could  to  rouse  her  hostess  from  her 
torpor  and  gloom — kept  her  in  talk,  made  Olive  read  to  them, 
went  out  with  her  in  the  pony  carriage.  Edward  played  the 
part  of  host  to  perfection,  came  home  early,  was  affable  at 
breakfast  and  urbane  at  dinner,  read  to  the  ladies  afterwards, 
or  made  up  a  rubber,  as  they  preferred,  and  was  assiduously 
attentive  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  daughter,  especially  the 
daughter. 

"  How  much  he  is  changed — and  improved — quite  another 
man,   I   declare,"   observed  Mrs.   Lincoln  more  than  once. 


238  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Sorrow  sours  some  people,  it  has  softened  Edward  Prince." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Olive  listlessly,  "  he  is  very  much  nicer 
than  he  used  to  be." 

Occasionally  Mrs.  Prince  put  a  good  word  in  for  Edward, 
saying  what  a  good  son  he  was,  how  well  the  office  was  thriv- 
ing under  his  admirable  management,  doing  better  than  it 
had  ever  done  before,  and  how  highly  people  spoke  of  him. 

But  these  laudations  bored  Olive  more  than  they  served 
her  would-be  swain  ;  they  reminded  her,  too,  that  though  he 
might  be  a  good  son  he  had  not  always  been  a  kind  brother. 
All  the  same,  Edward  flattered  himself  that  his  attentions 
were  telling,  yet  before  "  trying  his  luck"  he  looked  for  an 
opportunity  of  making  a  little  more  sure  as  to  the  precise 
effect  which  they  had  produced  in  Olive's  mind. 

The  opportunity  came,  as  opportunities  always  do  to  those 
who  know  how  to  wait.  She  laad  made  some  casual  remark 
about  Holmcroft  being  lonely. 

"  Lonely  !  You  may  well  say  so  ;  more,  it  is  dull,  deadly 
dull.  So  different  from  what  it  used  to  be,"  he  answered 
with  a  heart-rending  sigh  and  a  woebegone  look.  "  My 
mother  is  very  good — the  best  woman  in  the  world,  I  some- 
times think — and  bears  up  wonderfully,  as  you  see  ;  but  at 
her  age,  and  after  all  that  has  happened,  you  cannot  expect 
her  to  be  very  cheerful,  and  going  into  society  or  even  receiv- 
ing visitors — unless  they  are  old  friends,  like  you  and  your 
mother — is  really  beyond  her  strength.  I  want  somebod}'^ 
nearer  my  own  age  in  the  house,  some  bright  presence — Miss 
Lincoln." 

"  Your  mother  should  have  a  companion — or  you  might 
marry." 

A  more  impulsive  man  would  have  tried  his  luck  there 
and  then.  But  Edward  Prince,  being  neither  impulsive  nor 
a  fool,  well  knew  that  if  Olive  had  divined  the  significance 
of  his  words,  the  observation  would  not  have  been  made; 
and  her  manner  was  so  unconcerned  and  void  of  self-con- 
sciousness as  to  render  it  evident  that,  as  yet,  she  had  not 
even  so  much  as  thought  of  him  as  a  possible  pretcndaiit. 

"  A  very  good  idea  ;  I'll  speak  to  my  mother  about  it," 
he  replied,  with  a  somewhat  constrained  smile.  "  As  for  my 
marrying,  a  good  deal  would  depend  on  whom  I  married, 
don't  you  think  ?  " 

"  Everything,  I  should  say." 


THE  rRIJVCES  OF  PEELE. 


239 


And  then,  as  if  she  did  not  find  the  subject  interesting, 
Olive  took  up  a  book,  which  she  had  laid  down  a  few  minutes 
previously  and  went  on  with  her  reading.  Yet,  though  the 
had  failed,  Edward  was  not  discouraged.  He  believed  that 
the  rather  broad  hints  he  had  dropped  would  bear  fruit,  and 
that  the  next  time  he  tried  a  similar  experiment  the  result 
would  be  more  satisfactory. 

A  few  days  after  this  conversation,  Olive,  on  her  way 
through  the  fields  to  Peele,  fell  in  with  Lillywhite,  who  had 
been  to  a  neighboring  farm  on  office  business.  She  was 
glad  to  see  the  old  fellow,  and  spoke  to  him  kindly.  After 
exchanging  greetings  they  walked  on  together. 

"  It  was  very  good  of  you  to  send  me  those  letters,  Mr. 
Lillywhite.  You  rendered  me  a  great  service,"  she  said  frankl)^ 

"  How  can  I  thank " 

"  Don't  mention  it.  You  lay  me  under  an  obligation  by  al- 
lowing me  to  render  you  a  service,  and  pray  consider  me 
always  at  your  service.  I  am  yours  to  command,  both  for 
your  own  sake  and  that  of  poor  Mr.  Charles." 

Olive's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"  Oh,  wasn't  it  terrible  !  "  she  murmured.  "  Even  yet  can 
I  hardly  realize  that — he  is  not  here." 

"  You  are  not  the  only  one  who  misses  him.  Miss  Lincoln. 

Everybody  at  Peele  misses  him,  I  think.  And  the  office 
isn't  the  same.  He  was  always  so  bright  and  cheery — like 
sunshine  in  the  place — and  kind  to  everybody." 

Olive  liked  to  hear  Charlie  praised  by  one  who  knew  him 
so  well,  yet  it  distressed  her  to  talk  about  him,  and  for  a 
minute  or  two  they  walked  on  in  silence.  But  she  had  some- 
thing to  ask  Lillywhite,  painful  though  it  might  be.  Charlie's 
refusal  to  act  as  her  mother's  trustee  was  still  a  mystery  to 
which  she  had  not  found  a  clue.  The  clerk  might  be  able 
to  help  her  to  one. 

"  I  can  trust  you,  Mr.  Lillywhite,"  she  said,  in  a  tone 
which  implied  that  she  meant,   "  Can  I  trust  you .-'  " 

"  Absolutely,  Miss  Lincoln.  Hundreds  have  done,  and 
not  one  has  ever  had  occasion  to  regret  having  trusted 
Andrew  Lillywhite.  With  a  secret  ?  "  (dropping  his  voice  to 
a  whisper.) 

"  Yes.  The  last  time  I  ever  talked  with  Mr.  Charles — 
it  was  only  an  hour  or  two  before  he  set  out  on  the  fatal 
excursion  from  which  he  never  returned — he   said  that  he 


240  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

should  have  to  decline  becoming  one  of  my  mother's  trustees 
— why,  he  could  not  tell  me." 

"  But  he  had  agreed.  He  told  me  that  he  considered  it  an 
honor.  He  drafted  the  deed  of  appointment  himself,  and 
took  it  with  him  to  Whitebeach." 

"  That  makes  the  refusal  all  the  more  inexplicable." 

"  Of  course  it  does.     And  he  gave  you  no  reason  ?  " 

"  No,  only  that  he  couldn't  without  breaking  his  word  ; 
and  he  seemed  very  much  distressed." 

"  Very  much  distressed  was  he  ?  God  bless  me  !  It  is 
very  strange.  I  was  never  more  surprised  in  my  life.  To 
think  that  Mr.  Charles  should  refuse  to  act  as  your  mother's 
trustee  ! " 

"  He  had  not  actually  refused,  but  he  said  he  would  have 
to." 

"  Ah  !  " 

"  I  see  how  it  is,"  he  thought.  "  Ned  told  him  all,  under  a 
pledge  of  secrecy,  and  the  brave,  honest  lad  refused  to  be- 
come trustee  to  a  fraud.  It's  as  clear  as  daylight,  and  looks 
bad  for  his  brother,  damnably  bad." 

But  he  had  no  intention  of  enlightening  Olive.  The  old 
fellow  hoarded  secrets  as  a  miser  hoards  gold  pieces,  and 
parted  with  them  as  reluctantly.  Moreover,  if  he  told  Olive, 
and  she  told  her  mother,  there  would  be  the  deuce  to  pay, 
and  he  should  lose  his  hold  over  Edward. 

"  I  thought  you  might  have  some  idea,"  said  Olive,  after 
another  spell  of  silence. 

"  Not  the  least.  Miss  Olive,  not  the  least.  In  fact,  I  am 
quite  flabbergasted.  However,  I  suppose  you  have  not  men- 
tioned aught  of  this  to  anybody  else — Mr.  Prince,  for  ex- 
ample." 

"  Certainly  not.     How  could  I  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  of  course.  I  was  not  thinking.  I  beg  pardon 
for  asking  such  a  foolish  question.  You  are  quite  right,  it 
is  a  safe  principle  to  keep  things  to  yourself.  And  between 
ourselves,  I  rather  doubt,  you  know,  that  Mr.  Prince  was — 
ah — very  warmly  attached  to  his  brother." 

"  I  have  had  similar  doubts  myself.  But  he  seems  to  feel 
Charlie's  death  very  much.  His  lips  quiver  at  the  mere 
mention  of  his  brother's  name." 

"  Well,  when  you  have  not  been  as  kind  to  a  person  as 
you  might  have  been,  and  that  person  goes  over  to  the  great 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  241 

majority,  it  would  be  strange  if  you  did  not  feel  it — and  ap- 
pearances are  deceptive  sometimes,  Miss  Lincoln." 

"  And  you  really  cannot  think  of  any  clue  to  this  mystery, 
]\Ir.  Lillywhite  ?  " 

"  Not  yet.  It  has  come  upon  me  so  suddenly.  But  I 
will  put  on  my  considering  cap — people  are  pleased  to  say 
that  I  am  good  at  guessing  secrets — and  if  I  find  anything 
out  I  shall  let  you  know.  And  if  I  can  serve  5^ou  in  any 
way  let  me  know.  But  don't  write  to  the  office,  please. 
Here  is  my  private  address  (producing  a  card)  and  as  I  am 
a  bachelor  you  may  write  without  reserve." 

"  Why  more  so  than  if  you  were  married  ?  " 

"  Do  you  think  if  I  had  a  wife  my  letters  would  be  sacred  } 
Never  tell  a  husband  anything  you  don't  want  the  wife  to 
know." 

"  Nor  a  wife  anything  you  don't  want  her  husband  to 
know,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  so  sure.  I  have  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a 
woman  having  secrets  from  her  husband." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  are  somewhat  of  a  cynic,  Mr.  Lilly- 
white." 

"  And  if  I  am — forty-five  )^ears  in  lawyers'  offices  is 
enough  to  make  a  saint  cynical — and  you  know  that  the  Old 
Book  says  :  '  The  human  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things 
and  desperately  wicked.'  I  don't  go  any  further  than  that. 
We  are  nearly  at  Peele,  Miss  Lincoln." 

"  You  think  we  had  better  separate." 

"  It  would  be  as  well.  Somebody  might  inform  Mr.  Prince 
that  we  had  been  seen  in  conversation,  and  being  of  a  curi- 
ous turn  he  might  want  to  know  what  we  were  talking  about 
and  that  might  lead  to  complications.  One  cannot  be  too 
cautious." 

"  You  are  right.  I  will  linger  in  this  green  meadow  a  few 
minutes  while  you  go  on.  Good-bye,  Mr.  Lillywhite.  Thank 
you  so  much." 

"  Yours  to  command.  Miss  Lincoln.  If  I  can  be  of  any 
use  don't  fail  to  let  me  know.     Good-bye." 

So  they  shook  hands  and  parted — not  to  meet  again  until 
Mr.  Lillywhite  had  made  his  term  of  service  in  lawyers' 
office  a  full  half-century. 

16 


242  THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE-l 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

EDWARD  TRIES  HIS  LUCK. 

The  Lincolns  stayed  longer  at  Holmcroft  than  they  had 
originally  intended,  partly  out  of  a  desire  to  please  Mrs. 
Prince,  who  found  their  conjpany  so  pleasant  that  she  was 
loth  to  let  them  leave,  partly  because  the  end  of  the  Chan- 
cery suit  was  longer  in  coming  than  Edward  had  led  them 
to  expect — and  Mrs.  Lincoln  wanted  to  see  the  end  before 
going  abroad.  He  laid  the  blame  on  Perrywinkle,  while 
Perrywinkle,  in  answer  to  the  urgings  of  Mr.  Jump,  who 
never  let  him  alone,  laid  the  blame  on  Prince. 

Perrywinkle  was  right.  Edward,  who  no  more  wanted  his 
guests  to  go  than  his  mother  did,  and  had  persuaded  Mrs. 
Lincoln  that  it  would  be  prejudicial  to  her  interests  to  leave 
England  before  the  business  was  wound  up,  procrastinated 
unconscionably,  driving  Perrywinkle  wild,  and  making  the 
usually  placid  Mr.  Jump  mad,  by  suggesting  imaginary 
difficulties  and  raising  points  that  were  not  relevant  to  the 
issue. 

But  everything  is  fair  in  love  and  war,  and  Edv/ard  was 
deeper  in  love  than  ever ;  the  more  he  saw  of  Olive  the  better 
he  liked  her,  and  the  longer  she  stayed  the  stronger  grew  his 
desire  for  her  to  stay  altogether.  Her  mere  presence  sufficed 
to  chase  away  the  dark  phantoms  which  so  often  haunted  his 
mind,  and  he  looked  forward  with  dismay  to  the  time  when 
he  should  be  left  alone  with  his  mother.  Yet  though  Olive 
was  so  necessary  to  his  happiness — rather  because  she  wa.s 
so  necessary — he  hesitated  more  than  ever  to  ask  her  to  decide 
his  fate.  The  result  miglit  be  her  immediate  departure  from 
Holmcroft.  And  he  could  not  read  her.  Her  manner  and 
speech  were  not  unkind,  but  whether  her  real  feeling  for  him 
was  more  or  less  than  kind  he  was  unable  to  determine. 

The  fact  was  that  Olive  had  altered.  Charlie's  death,  the 
necessity  of  hiding  her  feelings  and  seeming  unconcerned 
though  her  heart  Avas  heav}^,  the  habit  of  introspection  to 
which  this  state  of  things  gave  rise,  and  her  sojourn    in  Loa- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  243 

don,  had  developed  her  character  more  than  as  many  years 
of  ordinary  country  life  would  have  done.  The  light-hearted 
girl  with  laughing  eyes  was  become  a  self-contained  young 
woman,  whose  refined  and  thoughtful  face  no  longer  reflected 
every  passing  emotion. 

If  Edward  Prince  had  understood  this,  or  even  vaguely 
surmised  the  true  cause  of  the  change  which  he  had  not  failed 
to  note,  he  could  have  been  under  no  misapprehension  as  to 
her  sentiments,  nor  thought  of  speaking  to  her  of  love  while 
she  still  mourned  for  his  brother. 

When  his  device  for  detaining  his  guests  had  been  in 
operation  something  less  than  a  month  there  came  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Jump  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  complaining  of  Mr.  Prince's 
procrastination  and  of  the  unnecessar}^  delays  which  he  was 
interposing  to  the  conclusion  of  the  suit.  Mr.  Jump  feared 
that  unless  the  business  were  settled  "  right  away,"  as  per 
arrangement,  it  would  have  to  be  fought  out  in  the  Law 
Courts,  in  which  case  there  would  not  be  a  "  red  cent  "  for 
any  of  them. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  handed  this  letter  to  her  solicitor. 

"  It  is  really  too  bad,"  she  exclaimed.  "  Those  Perrywinkle 
people  won't  hurry  up  at  all.  They  have  got  a  good  thing 
and  mean  to  stick  to  it  to  the  last  minute,  and  now  try  to 
make  out  that  the  fault  lies  with  you.  I  wonder  I\Ir.  Jump 
can  be  so  blind.     How  shall  I  answer  him  ?  " 

"  Don't  answer  at  all.  Leave  it  to  me.  I'll  write  him  on 
your  behalf." 

"  Do  !  and  be  sure  you  tell  him  the  truth." 

'•  The  game  is  nearly  played  out,"  thought  Edward.  "  How- 
ever, by  speaking  Jump  fair  and  promising  largely  I  may  keep 
it  going  another  month." 

But  on  the  following  day  there  came  another  letter,  which 
brought  matters  to  an  immediate  crisis.  It  was  from  America, 
and  informed  Mrs.  Lincoln  that  her  uncle  Amos,  a  gentleman 
who  lived  in  Vermont,  desired  greatly  to  see  her,  and  as  he 
was  old  and  feeble  and  obviously  failing,  it  was  desirable  for 
her  (if  she  were  minded  to  comply  with  his  request)  to  come 
as  soon  as  might  be. 

"  I  shall  go,  of  course,"  said  IMrs.  Lincoln,  after  she  had 
imparted  the  purport  of  the  communication  to  Mrs.  Prince 
and  her  son.  "  Uncle  Amos  is  my  father's  only  surviving 
brother,  and  I  should  never  forgive  myself  if  I  did  not  see 


2  44  THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

him  before  he  died.  You  must  put  that  business  through 
within  the  next  ten  days,  Edward.  I'll  write  to  Mr.  Jump 
myself,  and  ask  him  as  a  personal  favor  to  stir  Perrywinkle 
up.  Anyhow,  I  shall  write  to-day  to  engage  passages  in  the 
Cunarder  which  sails  next  Saturday  week." 

"  Do  you  propose  to  take  Olive  with  you  ? " 

"  Of  course  I  do.  You  surely  weren't  thinking  I  should 
leave  her  behind.  Why,  she  hasn't  seen  her  native  land  for 
ten  years  or  more.  If  she  stops  in  Europe  much  longer  she 
will  forget  she  is  an  American." 

It  was  a  great  blow  for  Edward  Prince.  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
original  plan  had  been  to  winter  in  the  Riviera,  return  to 
England  in  the  spring,  and  make  a  trip  to  America  at  a  period 
which  she  described  indifferently  as  "  later  on"  and  "  later  in 
the  year,"  meaning  thereby  the  year  next  ensuing.  The 
Riviera  was  not  so  far  away  that  Edward  could  not  have 
found  an  excuse  for  a  journey  thither,  either  before  or  after 
Christmas,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  promised  to  make  another 
visit  to  Holmcroft  before  going  to  America. 

But  in  America  Olive  would  be  quite  out  of  reach  ;  heaven 
only  knew  when  or  whether  he  should  see  her  again,  and  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  a  girl  so  good-looking  and  hand- 
somely dowered  would  be  without  suitors  or  remain  long  un- 
married. It  was  clear,  therefore,  that  if  he  desired  to  win 
her  he  must  speak  quickly. 

In  the  meantime  he  would  try  to  better  his  chances  with 
the  daughter  by  obliging  the  mother  in  the  matter  of  the  law- 
suit. He  told  Mrs.  Lincoln  that  he  should  make  the  arrange- 
ment of  her  affairs  his  sole  business  until  he  had  brought  it 
to  a  satisfactory  conclusion.  He  would  go  to  London  by  the 
night  mail,  see  both  Perrywinkle  and  Jump,  and  insist  on  the 
compromise  being  forthwith  carried  out  in  its  integrity ;  and 
he  thought  he  could  guarantee  that  the  settlement  would  be 
completed  before  her  departure. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  seemed  greatly  pleased  ;  and  when  he  re- 
turned from  London  two  days  later,  with  a  pile  of  papers,  and 
informed  her  that  when  she  had  executed  them  the  suit 
would  not  only  be  ended,  but  every  detail  arranged,  so  that 
she  might  leave  with  an  easy  mind,  he  received  earnest 
thanks  as  well  from  Olive  as  her  mother. 

"  It  is  very  good  of  you  to  give  so  much  time  to  our  affairs 
when  you  are  so  busy,"  said  Olive,  warmly. 


THE  PRIXCES  OE  PEELE. 


245 


"  Good  !  I  should  think  so,"  added  Mrs.  Lincoln,  heartily. 
"  Nobody  else  would  have  taken  so  much  trouble,  and  I  don't 
think  there  is  another  lawyer  in  the  kingdom  who  could  have 
put  the  business  through  so  soon  and  saved  so  much  out  of 
the  fire.  You  should  go  to  America,  Edward,  \^■e  want 
men  like  you,  who  are  both  honest  and  capable.  You  would 
make  a  fortune  ;  you  might  be  anything  you  like." 

Edward  heard  this  with  a  grave  face — whatever  he  may 
have  felt — and  the  thought  crossed  his  mind  that  to  win 
Olive  he  would  even  go  to  the  land  where  honest  and  capable 
men,  like  himself,  were  so  much  in  request. 

The  Lincolns  were  to  leave  Peele  on  the  following  Friday 
morning,  en  route  for  Liverpool  ;  and  on  the  Thursday  even- 
ing, Olive,  having  finished  her  packing,  took  a  turn  in  the 
garden.  Holmcroft  looked  charming.  The  setting  sun, 
shining  through  a  fantastically  shaped  mass  of  diaphanous 
cloud,  bathed  the  old  house,  with  its  tiled  roof,  high  gables 
and  ivy-mantled  chimney-stacks,  in  a  flood  of  crimson  light ; 
the  kine  were  lowing  in  the  fields,  and  crowds  of  cawing 
rooks  coming  home  to  roost  in  the  tall  elms  down  by  the 
fish-pond.  Yes,  Holmcroft  was  a  dear  old  place,  and  so 
pleasant  and  peaceful  withal,  that  it  seemed  as  though  all 
who  lived  there  should  be  happy.  Yet  none  of  them — none 
of  those  we  know — were  happy.  At  the  best,  parting  is  not 
a  time  of  joy,  and  Olive  was  as  sorry  to  leave  Holmcroft  as 
she  had  been  to  leave  All  Hallows. 

The  two  places,  and  the  neighborhood  of  Peele,  were  as- 
sociated with  the  chief  events  of  her  life,  hallowed  to  her  by 
memories  which  she  should  never  forget.  She  was  going  to 
a  land  which,  though  her  own  and  a  land  to  be  proud  of,  she 
only  just  remembered,  which  at  first  would  seem  very  strange 
to  her,  and  where,  albeit  she  had  many  kinsfolk,  she  had  no 
friends. 

What  had  the  future  in  store  for  her  ?  Would  it  ever  be 
her  lot  to  revisit  the  fair  country  where  she  had  known  50 
much,  both  of  joy  and  sorrow  ?  And  then  there  came  to 
Olive's  memory  the  pathetic  lines  : 

"  And  the  stately  ships  go  on 

To  their  haven  under  the  hill ; 
But  oh  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand, 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still. 


246  THE  PRIiXCES  OF  PEELE. 

Break,  break,  break. 

At  the  foot  of  thy  crags,  oh.  Sea, 
But  the  tender  grace  of  a  day  that  is  dead 

Will  never  come  back  to  me." 

Slowly,  and  in  pensive  mood,  Olive  walked  down  the 
avenue.  On  reaching  the  spot  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prince 
had  parted  on  the  day  which  proved  to  be  the  most  mo- 
mentous of  their  lives,  she  turned  and  began  to  retrace  her 
steps,  and  was  presently  overtaken  by  Edward,  who  looked 
fagged  and  anxious,  as  if  he  had  had  a  hard  day's  work  ;  for 
which  reason,  and  because  she  remembered  only  just  then 
that  he  had  lately  been  very  pleasant,  and  deserved  well, 
both  of  her  mother  and  herself,  she  returned  his  greeting  so 
graciously  and  sympathetically  that  he  felt  quite  encouraged. 

"To-morrow  you  go,"  he  said  softly.  "This  is  your  last 
night  at  Holmcroft.  You  are  doubtless  pleased  to  think  you 
will  so  soon  see  your  native  land." 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to  be.  One's  country  is  one's  country, 
after  all,  but  I  have  got  to  like  England,  and  1  am  not  sure 
whether  the  pain  of  leaving  it  won't  be  greater  than  the 
pleasure  of  returning  to  America." 

"  But  you  will  come  back  ? " 

"  Who  can  tell  ?  I  may  find  work  to  do  there.  So  far,  I 
have  lived  only  for  myself.  Yes,  I  am  very  sorry  to  leave 
Holmcroft.  I  never  stay  long  at  a  place  that  I  don't  get 
attached  to  it,  though  I  have  been  such  a  rolling  stone  ;  and 
everybody  here  has  been  so  kind  to  us — your  father  and 
mother  and — yourself  (she  had  nearly  said  Charlie).  We 
shall  never,  never  forget  our  dear  friends  at  Holmcroft." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so.  And  I  shall  never  forget 
you.  It  is  no  use,  I  cannot  keep  it  back,"  he  exclaimed, 
passionately.  "  Olive,  dear  Olive,  don't  you  see  that  I  love 
you,  aye,  the  very  ground  you  tread  on  ?  Don't  think  ill  of 
me — I  did  not  mean — if  you  had  not  been  going  away  I 
should  not  have  spoken  to  you  of  love  so  soon  after  my 
father's  death — and  Charlie's " 

"  Ah,  my  poor  boy  !     Why  did  you  leave  him  to  perish  ?  " 

This  terrible  question,  provoked  by  the  startling  sudden- 
ness of  Edward's  avowal,  and  his  mention  of  Charlie's  name 
in  the  same  breath,  voiced  a  thought  she  had  conceived  at  the 
time  of  his  death  and  afterwards  put  aside  as  unjust,  the 
thought  that  had  Edward  done  for  his  brother  what  Charlie, 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  247 

in  like  circumstances,  had  done  for  him,  her  lover  m.ight 
have  been  saved.  But  the  words  were  no  sooner  spoken  than 
she  bitterly  rued  them. 

She  had  both  betrayed  herself  and  made  a  charge  she 
could  not  justify,  for  which,  indeed,  she  had  absolutely  no 
excuse.  Their  eifect  on  Edward  frightened  her.  He  leaned 
against  a  tree,  pale  and  trembling,  and  with  lips  convulsively 
twitching. 

"  Why  do  you  say  that  ?  Good  God,  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 
he  cried  hoarsely. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  am  very  sorry.  I  did  not  know  what 
1  said — I  did  not  mean  to  hurt  you — but  you  surprised  me 
so  much — speaking  of  love,  and  Charlie  only  just  dead — that 
I  spoke  impulsively  and  uncharitably.  It  was  wrong  and  I 
beg  your  pardon." 

''  Only  just  dead  !  Why,  it  is  five  months  since — and  I 
had  no  idea  you  felt  his  death  so  much,"  returned  Edward 
pulling  himself  together. 

"  Yes.  I  felt  it  very  much.  We  were  play-fellows,  and  had 
always  been  such  good  friends." 

"  But  now  that  you  know  my  feelings,  how  dearlj^  I  love 
you,  cannot  you  give  me  some  hope  ?  We  both  loved  Charlie, 
we  both  mourn  for  him  ;  a  common  sorrow  is  a  bond  of  sym- 
pathy." 

"  Give  you  some  hope  !  That  means  encouragement  to 
believe  that  some  day  I  may  return  your  love  ? " 

"  Yes,  that  is  all  I  ask.  I  will  wait — yea,  I  will  serve  for 
you  as  long  as  Jacob  served  for  Rachel.  For  heaven's  sake, 
Olive,  don't  leave  me  without  hope." 

He  pleaded  so  earnestly  and  looked  so  pitiful  that  Olive 
was  touched,  and  regretted  more  than  ever  the  cruel  words 
which  she  had  just  spoken. 

"  How  can  I  hold  out  hopes  that  I  know  can  never  be 
realized  ?     It  would  be  wrong,"  she  said  wistfully. 

"  But  perhaps  in  a  year  or  two,  or  even  in  three  or  four." 

"  How  can  I  tell  what  my  feelings  will  be  three  or  four 
years  hence  ?  But  I  doubt  whether  they  will  alter  much.  If 
I  know  myself  I  shall  never  love  any  man." 

"  Well,  will  you  promise  that  while  you  are  in  America  you 
will  not  engage  yourself  ?  " 

"  By  what  right  ?  "  demanded  Olive,  indignantly. 


248  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  forgot  myself.  I  was  presuming 
too  much,"  quoth  Edward,  humbly. 

"  You  have  no  right  to  make  such  a  request.  But  I  owe 
you  reparation  for  the  hasty  words  I  spoke  just  now,  and 
gratitude  for  your  honest  and  able  management  of  my 
mother's  affairs  ;  and  if  it  be  any  satisfaction  to  you  I  may 
say  that  I  shall  certainly  not  engage  myself  to  anybody  until 
I  have  revisited  England  and  seen  Holmcroft  again." 

"  You  are  very  good,"  murmured  Edward,  who  was  in  a 
humor  to  be  thankful  for  small  mercies.  "  And  you  forgive 
me,  do  you  not  ?     We  are  friends  ?  " 

Olive  gave  him  her  hand,  Edward  raised  it  respectfully  to 
his  lips,  and  the  two  walked  silently  towards  the  house. 


THE  PRJXCES  OF  PEELE.  249 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FROM     JACK. 

For  three  or  four  days  after  the  departure  of  his  guests 
Edward  Prince's  mind  was  in  a  continual  turmoil.  He  could 
think  of  nothing  but  Olive.  One  moment  he  accused  her 
of  being  a  heartless  flirt,  the  next  himself  of  being  a  fool. 
Why  should  he  be  so  infatuated  about  one  particular  young 
woman  ?  There  were  others  quite  as  good,  whom  he  could 
have  for  the  asking.  And  he  was  conscious  of  having  cut 
a  ridiculous  figure  ;  he  had  been  soft,  absurdly  soft,  even  to 
the  extent  of  thanking  her  with  "  whispered  humbleness  "  for 
a  promise  that  amounted  to  nothing — which  she  might  either 
deny  or  evade.  He  should  have  spoken  sooner,  and  been 
bolder  and  more  importunate.  Olive  was  a  girl  who  needed 
to  be  "  stood  up  to  "  and  mastered  ;  yet  he  had  trembled  in 
her  presence  and  let  her  terrorize  him  by  the  mere  mention 
of  Charlie's  name. 

Was  it  to  be  ever  thus  ?  Was  Charlie,  alive  or  dead,  to  be 
always  in  his  way  ? 

"  Why  did  you  leave  him  to  perish  ?  " 

Who  could  have  put  so  absurd  an  idea  into  her  head  ? 

True,  she  had  apologized,  and  explained  that  she  had  not 
meant  it,  but  why  had  she  said  it .-'  Was  it  possible  that  any- 
body else  thought  the  same — that  people  were  whispering  to 
each  other  behind  his  back  the  question  which,  as  Olive  pro- 
tested, had  sprung  unbidden  from  her  lips  ? 

The  thought  was  horror. 

But  no  !  He  should  have  heard,  and  Olive  would  not  have 
been  so  kind  ;  she  was  not  the  girl  to  let  a  man  whom  she 
considered  capable  of  committing  murder  kiss  her  hand  ;  and 
Mrs.  Lincoln  believed  in  him  as  entirely  as  she  had  believed 
in  his  father.  Why  torment  himself  with  a  baseless  fear  ? 
Yet,  try  as  he  might,  he  could  neither  hypnotize  his  conscience 
nor  dismiss  Olive  from  his  mind. 


250  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

His  mother  saw  that  he  was  unhappy  and  surmised  the 
cause.     Had  he  said  anything  to  OUve,  she  asked. 

Edward  told  her  what  had  passed  (except,  of  course,  the 
outburst  about  his  brother). 

"  Do  you  think  she  cared  for  Charlie  .''" 

"  I  am  sure  she  did." 

"  I  have  suspected  as  much,  myself.  Well,  in  that  case  I 
do  not  see  why  you  need  be  so  despondent.  Olive  is  not 
one  of  those  frivolous  girls  who  love  lightly  and  forget  quickly. 
It  seems  to  me,  that  considering  the  circumstances  she  has 
given  you  as  much  encouragement  as  you  could  expect,  ard 
if  you  will  only  have  patience  all  will  be  well.  If  she  had 
not  had  a  very  kindly  feeling  for  you  she  would  not  have  prom- 
ised to  keep  herself  free  until  she  sees  you  again.  And 
they  will  not  stay  long  in  America.  England  is  become  their 
second  home,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  as  good  as  said  that  she  pre- 
fers this  country  to  their  own.  The  Lincolns  will  be  here 
again  next  year,  mark  me  if  they  are  not,  and  if  you  play 
your  cards  properly  Olive  will  be  yours." 

Though  Edward  did  not  quite  take  all  this  as  gospel,  there 
was  clearly  something  in  it,  and  he  felt  distinctly  encouraged 
thereby.  But  he  found  his  chief  solace  in  work,  to  which  he 
applied  himself  with  redoubled  diligence,  since  whether  he 
won  Olive  or  not  he  was  resolved  to  win  a  fortune.  And 
there  was  every  likelihood  that  he  would  succeed  ;  he  made 
money  in  ways  that  his  father  never  thought  of  and  which, 
though  he  had  thought  of  them,  he  would  have  disdained  to 
adopt,  and  Edward's  outgoings  being  very  much  less  than 
his  father's  had  been,  he  had  a  large  surplus  income,  which 
he  knew  how  to  turn  to  good  account. 

And  presently  he  had  a  windfall,  as  startling  and  unex- 
pected as  a  dividend  on  a  written-off  bad  debt,  or  a  return  of 
over-paid  duty  from  the  Income  Tax  Commissioners.  One 
morning,  while  they  were  at  breakfast,  Mrs.  prince  received 
a  letter,  from  which,  as  she  opened  it,  a  piece  of  paper  fell, 
and  fluttered  to  the  floor.  Edward  picked  it  up.  It  was  a 
first  of  exchange  on  Brown,  Shipley,  and  Co.,  for  two  thou- 
sand pounds,  drawn  by  an  American  bank  in  favor  of  Mrs. 
Dorothy  I'rince. 

Mystiiied  beyond  measure,  he  glanced  at  his  mother,  and 
saw  in  her  face  a  surprise  greater  than  his  own,  and  other 


THE  PRIiXCES  OF  PEELE.  251 

feelings — bewilderment,  incredulity,  doubt,  gladness — seemed 
to  be  strusjgling  for  the  mastery. 

'•  Oh,  Edward  !  "  she  cried,  as  she  turned  the  last  page  and 
looked  at  the  signature. 

"  What  is  it  1     \\'hom  is  it  from  ?  " 

"  It  is — I  can  hardly  believe  it — it  is  from  Jack.  Do  you 
hear?  It  is  from  Jack.  My  boy  !  My  boy,  whom  I  thought 
was  dead  or  worse  than  dead.  And  he  is  doing  well  and 
sends  money,  and  will  send  more,  make  full  restitution,  he 
says.     Oh,  such  a  letter,  so  loving  and  penitent." 

Her  voice  was  broken  with  emotion,  and  tears  were  stream- 
ing down  her  cheeks. 

"  Let  nie  see  it." 

"  After  I  have  read  it  again.  I  must  read  it  again.  Oh, 
my  dear  Jack  1 " 

When  Mrs.  Prince  had  read  the  letter  a  second  time  she 
handed  it  to  Edward.  It  was,  as  she  had  said,  loving  and 
penitent.  Jack  had  heard  of  his  father's  death  (he  did  not 
say  how)  and  expressed  bitter  regret  that  he  had  not  been  a 
better  son,  and  deep  contrition  for  his  past  misconduct,  which, 
he  felt  sure,  must  have  embittered  both  his  father's  life  and 
her  own.  Then  he  spoke  of  his  last  visit  to  Holmcroft,  told 
how  he  had  seen  them  at  prayers  and  heard  his  mother  men- 
tion his  name,  and  how  he  had  vowed  that  they  should  never 
hear  of  him  again  unless  it  were  something  good.  This  vow, 
with  God's  help,  he  had  been  enabled  to  fulfill.  Paul  Con- 
iston,  for  whose  acquaintance  he  was  indebted  to  "  dear  old 
Charlie,"  had  put  him  in  the  way  of  good  things,  and  he  was 
engaged  in  a  profitable  mining  enterprise,  out  of  which  he 
expected  to  make  a  fortune.  If  he  succeeded  he  would  re- 
pay every  penny  he  owed  the  family,  and  as  a  beginning 
enclosed  a  draft  for  two  thousand  pounds,  ^^'hen  he  first 
went  to  America  he  called  himself  Mark  Darnley ;  but  not 
liking  to  sail  under  false  colors  he  had  resumed  his  true  name 
and  would  try  to  do  it  as  much  honor  in  the  future  as  he  had 
done  it  dishonor  in  the  past.  He  ended  by  entreating  his 
mother  to  forgive  him  for  the  sorrow  he  had  caused  her  and 
the  wrong  he  had  done,  sent  his  love  to  Ned  and  Charlie,  and 
said  what  pleasure  it  would  give  him  to  have  a  few  lines  from 
them  now  and  then.  But  for  their  help  God  only  knew  what 
would  have  become  of  him. 

It  was  a  manly,  straightforward  letter,  yet  humble  and  con- 


252  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

trite  withal,  in  parts  pathethic,  and  touched  Edward  more 
deeply  than  he  had  been  touched  for  a  long  time.  It  galled 
him,  too,  for  he  felt  that  the  despised  Jack  was  behaving  with 
a  magnanimity  of  which  he  himself  was  incapable. 

"  Who  would  have  thought  it  1 "  he  said,  returning  the  letter 
to  his  mother. 

"  Yes,  who  would  have  thought  it  .-*  It  is  like  one  returning 
from  the  dead.  I  had  mourned  him  as  lost,  hoped  even  never 
to  hear  of  him  again.  And  now  !  Thank  God,  thank  God  ! 
If  your  father  could  only  have  known,  and  poor  Charlie  ! 
You  see  he  does  not  know  of  Charlie's  death.  How  noble 
of  him  to  send  this  money.  But  he  need  not  send  any  more, 
Edward,  we  don't  want  it." 

"  It  is  not  so  much  a  question  whether  we  want  it  as 
whether  he  ought  to  pay  it.  Think  how  much  he  cost  father 
from  first  to  last.  What  with  insurance  premiums,  interest 
and  one  thing  and  another,  more  than  twenty  thousand  pounds. 
But  for  him  you  and  I  should  be  much  better  off  now,  and  it 
is  evident,  from  the  tone  of  the  letter,  that  it  will  be  a  satis- 
faction to  him  to  discharge  the  debt.  I  would  let  him  pay 
it  if  I  were  you,  and  then,  if  you  like,  you  can  return  him 
something,  or  take  it  into  account  when  you  make  your  will." 

"  Well,  perhaps  you  are  right.  All  the  same,  I  cannot  quite 
reconcile  myself  to  taking  so  much  money  from  Jack  when 
we  don't  need  it.  I  shall  write  to  him  by  the  next  mail ;  so 
will  you,  won't  you  ?     You  have  got  the  draft,  I  think  ?  " 

Edward  said  he  had  got  the  draft  and  would  write  to  Jack, 
He  knew  that  whatever  money  his  mother  received  would 
come  to  him.  They  had  a  common  purse,  and  she  never 
either  asked  for  receipts  or  demanded  an  account  of  his 
stewardship.  Before  the  month  was  out  the  two  thousand 
pounds,  temporarily  advanced  to  an  impecunious,  albeit  sol- 
vent, client,  was  yielding  increase  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  a 
year." 

Jack's  resurrection  raised  Mrs.  Prince's  spirits  as  much  as 
Charlie's  death  had  depressed  them.  Besides  gratifying  her 
maternal  love  it  gave  her  a  new  interest  in  life.  The  prodigal 
of  whom  she  had  once  been  so  bitterly  ashamed  was  become 
an  occasion  of  pride.  Edward  had  suggested  the  expediency 
of  "  keeping  it  quiet,"  but  Mrs.  Prince  could  not  help  mention- 
ing to  one  or  two  friends  (in  strict  contidence)  how  well  her 
eldest  son  was  doing  ;  and  a  day  or  two  later  it  was  rumored 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  253 

in  Peele  that  John  Prince,  who  had  been  so  long  under  a 
cloud,  was  making  "  a  pile  "  in  California,  and  sending  money 
home  for  investment. 

About  the  same  time  Edward  found  something  for  which 
he  had  long  looked  in  vain — a  pretext  for  getting  rid  of 
Lillywhite — or,  rather,  Lillywhite  found  it  for  him. 

Nobody  who  looked  at  the  managing  clerk's  nose,  and  it 
certainly  invited  observation,  was  likely  to  mistake  him  for  a 
teetotaller  ;  on  the  other  hand,  nobody  could  justly  accuse 
him  of  being  intemperate,  and  when  he  said,  and  he  was 
rather  fond  of  saying  it,  that  nobody  had  ever  seen  him  the 
worse  for  liquor,  nobody  could  contradict  him.  His  favorite 
tipple  was  port  "  of  character '"  tawny,  crusted,  and  old- 
bottled  ;  but  as  wine  of  this  class  (and  he  would  have  naught 
inferior)  "  came  expensive,"  he  could  seldom  indulge  in  it, 
and  limited  his  allowance  to  a  pint  with  his  Sunday  dinner. 
At  other  times  he  quenched  his  thirst  with  a  certain  brew  of 
old  ale  locally  known  as  "ramjam." 

One  day  a  client,  also  a  connoisseur  of  old  port,  whom  he 
had  helped  to  make  an  excellent  bargain,  took  Lillywhite  to 
luncheon  at  the  Old  Bull  and  gave  him  carte  blancJie  in  the 
matter  of  wine.  Lillywhite  ordered  two  bottles  of  Croft's  old 
tawny,  at  a  guinea  a  bottle,  and  saw  that  they  got  them. 

"  What  do  you  say  to  another  ?  "  asked  the  client  when 
these  had  been  drunk.  "  There  isn't  a  headache  in  a  hogs- 
head of  it." 

Lillywhite  nodded  assent.  He  knew  that  he  was  wanted 
at  the  office,  but  the  offer  was  too  good  to  be  refused.  He 
might  never  have  such  a  chance  again. 

"  I'll  fetch  it  myself,"  quoth  he  ;  "  these  waiter  fellows  are 
not  to  be  trusted." 

"  All  right,  old  man  ;  and,  I  say,  you  may  as  well  bring 
two  w'hile  you  are  about  it." 

Lillywhite  brought  two.  An  hour  later  he  left  the  client 
very  much  asleep  on  the  sofa,  and  toddled  off  to  the  office, 
feeling  as  if  his  nose  were  on  fire  and  his  tongue  had  been 
turned  into  a  Bologna  sausage. 

"  The  governor  wants  you  ;  he  has  asked  for  you  several 
times,"  said  one  of  the  clerks. 

Lillywhite  walked  confidently,  and  as  steadily  as  he  knew 
how,  into  his  employer's  room. 

"  You  have  been  a  long  time  at  your  lunch,  I  think.     It  is 


254 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


past  three.  When  is  this  writ  of  Picton's  returnable  ? " 
asked  Edward  sliarply. 

"  Ask  your  grandmother,  young  man,"  said  Lilly  white,  as 
he  reeled  into  a  chair. 

"  Why,  you  are — you  have  been  drinking." 

"Which  I  have,  dear  boy.  Croft's  tawny,  twenty  years  in 
bottle  ;  but  only  two  bottles  and  not  a  headache  in  a  hogs- 
head of  it,  as  Drinkwater  says — only  two  bottles,  two  only, 
two  for  him,  and  two  for  me,  at  a  guinea  a  bottle.  Any 
advance  on  a  guinea  a  bottle,  any  advance  on  twenty-one 
shillings  for  Croft's  old  tawny }     Going,  going,  gone  !  " 

And  Lillywhite  brought  his  fist  down  on  Edward's  table 
with  a  bang  that  capsized  the  inkstand  and  sent  his  papers 
flying  all  over  the  place. 

"  This  is  shameful,  utterly  disgraceful ;  a  man  of  your  age 
too  !  "  he  exclaimed  indignantly.  "  You  must  go  home  at 
once.     I'll  send  for  a  cab." 

"All  right,  I'll  go,"  said  Lillywhite,  who  had  just  wit 
enough  left  to  know  that  he  was  making  a  fool  of  himself. 
"  I'll  go.  I  go,  thou  goest,  he  goes.  We  go,  ye  or  you  go, 
they  go.  Two  negatives  destroy  one  another,  or  are  equiva- 
lent to  an  affirmative,  as  Hickory,  dickory  dock,  the  cow 
jumped  over  the  clock.  O  blessed  shade  of  Lindley  Mur- 
ray !  " 

"  Will  you  go,  please  ?  The  cab  is  at  the  door.  Jones 
will  see  you  home." 

"Certainly.  Of  course.  I'll  go — over  the  water  and  over 
the  lea  and  over  the  water  to  Charlie.  I  would  if  he  wasn't 
under  water,  poor,  dear  boy.  Lord,  how  I  hate  water.  Ta- 
ta, Ned,  ta-ta !  " 

"The  old  ruffian.  Why,  he  is  as  drunk  as  a  fiddler's  sow," 
muttered  Edward  wrathfully.  "  But  I  have  him  on  the  hip 
this  time.     To-morrow  he  goes." 

The  morrow  came,  and  with  it  Lillyv/hite,  penitent, 
se^dy,  and  ashamed.  So  soon  as  Mr.  Prince  arrived  he  went 
into  the  latter's  room  and  offered  a  frank  apology  for  his 
wandering  from  the  path  of  sobriety,  and,  above  all,  for 
appearing  in  such  a  state  at  the  office. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  he  said  ;  "  at  my  time  of  life  I  ought  to 
have  known  better.  My  head  isn't  what  it  used  to  be.  I 
cannot  drink  two  bottles  of  port  with  impunity,  as  I  could 
when  you  came  of  age.     However,  I  know  now.     Nothing 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  255 

of  the  sort  ever  happened  before,  and  it  shall  never  happen 
again." 

"  I'll  take  care  it  does  not,"  returned  Edward  emphatically 
— "  at  any  rate,  in  this  office.  Even  your  long  services  cannot 
atone  for  so  grave  an  offence,  to  say  nothing  of  your  gross 
insults  to  myself.  Our  relations  must  cease,  Mr.  Lillywhite. 
Here  is  a  check  for  three  months'  salary;  you  are  only 
entitled  to  a  month's." 

"  What !  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  for  a  single  offence, 
the  first  in  thirty  years,  you  are  going  to  send  me  away  with 
a  quarter's  salary  1  " 

"  I  do.     Such  an  offence  it  is  impossible  to  overlook." 

"  Have  you  considered  what  the  consequences  will  be,  Mr. 
Prince  ? " 

"  One  consequence  will  be  that  I  shall  engage  a  managing- 
clerk  who  will  not  come  to  the  office  drunk." 

'•  And  another  that  before  the  week  is  out  all  Peele  will 
know  that  your  father  played  hanky-panky  tricks  with  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  fortune,  and  that  you  and  your  mother,  as  his 
executors,  were  parties  to  the  fraud." 

"  If  you  make  any  such  villainous  statement,  Lillywhite, 
I'll  have  you  laid  by  the  heels  and  prosecuted  for  slander." 

"  It  isn't  a  slander  ;  it's  true." 

"  You  cannot  prove  it.  Mrs.  Lincoln's  money  is  in  Con- 
sols, and  the  papers  are  in  that  safe.  I  can  show  them  to 
anybody." 

"  The  Bank  of  England  keeps  books,  I  suppose.  It  will 
be  easy  to  show  that  your  father  sold  out  fifteen  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  stock  the  week  after  your  brother  ran  away 
from  Liverpool,  and  that  you  bought  the  same  amount  with 
the  insurance  money.     And  there  is  something  else." 

"  What  ?  " 

"  Charlie,  like  the  honest  lad  he  was,  refused  to  be  your 
co-trustee  ;  he  wouldn't  be  a  party  to  the  fraud." 

This  was  a  knock-down  blow  for  Edward,  and  it  was  all 
he  could  do  to  maintain  his  self-possession. 

"  I  deny  it ;  it  is  not  true,"  he  said  hotly. 

"  It  is  true  enough.  All  the  same,  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  that  I  can  prove  it.  But  that  isn't  all.  There  is  still 
something  else " 

"  W^ell .?  " 


256  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  That  body  you  brought  up  from  Whitebeach  and  laid  in 
the  family  vault  is  not  Charlie's." 

"  Man,  you  lie  !     It  is  his  body." 

"  I  can  prove  different.  You  swore  at  the  inquest  that 
your  brother  dived  into  the  water  naked.  The  body  found 
on  the  Horse  Bank  was  clothed.  In  the  fob  was  a  watch 
with  a  name  on  it — and  it  is  in  my  fob  now." 

Edward  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  pale  and  trembling. 

"  Well,  how  is  it  to  be  .''  Have  I  to  go  .''  "  asked  Lillywhite, 
after  an  interlude  of  silence. 

"  Those  rascally  boatmen  must  have  deceived  me,"  observed 
Edward,  in  a  low  voice.  "  Howeyer,  as  you  have  been  here 
such  a  long  time,  and  that,  we'll  say  no  more  about  it.  Let 
bygones  be  bygones." 

And  with  that  he  tore  up  the  check  and  threw  the  frag- 
ments into  the  fire,  and  Lillywhite,  smiling  sardonically  and 
wagging  his  great  nose,  went  back  to  his  desk. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE.  257 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

olive's  resolve. 

While  Mrs.  Lincoln  went  to  Vermont,  Olive  stayed  with 
the  Oldburys,  at  Roxbury,  a  suburb  of  Boston.  Hosea  Old- 
bury  was  her  father's  first  cousin,  whose  only  unmarried 
daughter,  Naomi,  had  been  at  All  Hallows  a  few  years  pre- 
viously, and  Olive  was  warmly  welcomed  and  made  much  of. 
The  Oldburys  came  of  an  old  Puritan  stock,  and  one  of  the 
family  heirlooms  and  treasures  was  a  Bible,  which  the  first 
of  the  name  to  settle  in  New  England  had  brought  with  him 
from  Old  England,  in  the  year  in  which  Oliver  Cromwell 
died. 

Mr.  Oldbury  was  a  gentleman  of  something  past  sixty, 
with  a  rugged  and  powerful,  yet  not  unkindly  face  ;  his  wife, 
a  dear  old  lady  with  beautiful  brown  eyes  and  snow-white 
hair,  and  so  genial  and  loving  withal,  that  Olive  had  not 
been  long  in  the  house  before  she  felt  as  if  she  had  known 
"  Cousin  Rachel  "  all  her  life. 

The  habits  of  the  family  were  as  regular  as  clockwork. 
They  began  the  day  early.  Breakfast  at  half-past  seven  to 
the  minute.  Near  Mr.  Oldbury's  plate  was  a  Bible,  from 
which,  before  beginning  the  meal,  he  read  a  few  verses  ;  then 
he  said  a  short  extempore  prayer.  At  eight  he  went  to  his 
business  in  the  city,  and  was  not  seen  again  until  evening. 
During  the  day  the  ladies  attended  to  many  matters  which, 
among  English  people  of  a  similar  class,  are  generally  left  to 
servants.  The  domestic  establishment  consisted  of  a  couple 
of  Irish  helps,  who  seemed  to  need  a  good  deal  of  looking 
after.  In  the  first  week  after  her  arrival  Olive  made  calls 
with  Naomi  and  renewed  her  acquaintance  with  friends  and 
kinsfolk  she  only  dimly  remembered,  and  who  seemed  sur- 
prised that  the  little  girl  whom  they  remembered  had  developed 
into  a  self-possessed  young  woman  with  an  English  accent. 
Other  distractions  were  going  "  down  town"  on  shopping 
expeditions  and  attending   an  occasional  lecture ;    of  more 

17 


258  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELR. 

worldly  amusements  there  was  never  so  much  as  a  question, 
and  Olive  learnt  from  Naomi  that  her  parents  took  life  much 
too  seriously  to  approve  of  theatre-going  and  party-giving. 

One  night  Cousin  Hosea  put  down  his  book  and  asked 
her  abruptly  what  she  thought  of  slavery. 

"  In  the  abstract  ?  "  demanded  Olive,  who  was  rather  sur- 
prised at  the  seeming  irrelevancy  of  the  question. 

"  As  it  exists  in — this  land  of  freedom." 

*'  I  never  saw  a  slave.  But  I  don't  like  slavery,  if  that  is 
what  you  mean.  I  have  read  things  about  it  in  the  English 
papers  and  books  that  made  me  feel  ashamed  of  being  an 
American — or  would  have  done  if  I  could  have  been  sure 
they  were  true.  My  father  used  to  say  they  were  not  true  ; 
that  slavery  was  not  nearly  so  bad  a  thing  as  people  made  out, 
and  that  it  could  not  be  abolished  without  breaking  up  the 
Union." 

"  So  your  father  was  against  abolition  ?  " 

"Yes,  but  solely  on  that  ground." 

"  He  did  not  think  slavery  right  ? " 

"  I  am  sure  he  did  not.  I  heard  him  say  so  more  uhan 
once." 

"  Then  he  was  a  time-server.  He  set  expediency  before 
right  and  justice." 

Olive  fired  up. 

"  Cousin  Hosea,  what  are  you  saying  ?  My  father  a  time- 
server  !  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  Your  father  was  a  merchant.  Suppose  two  of  his  part- 
ners, two  out  of  five,  let  us  say,  had  been  high-handed  rob- 
bers, and  he  had  refused  to  dissolve  partnership  with  them  on 
the  ground  that  doing  so  would  break  up  the  firm.  How 
would  you  characterize  such  an  excuse  ?  " 

"  I  see  what  you  mean.  But  isn't  that  rather  begging  the 
question  ?     Southern  people  are  not  robbers." 

"  Slave-holders  are,  and  the  Southern  people,  and  many  of 
the  Northern  people,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  their  active  and 
zealous  accomplices.  Robbers  and  worse  than  robbers,  aye, 
murderers.  What  crime  can  be  more  heinous  than  holding 
millions  of  our  fellow-creatures  in  bitter  bondage  ?  I  say  noth- 
ing about  cruelty.  Allow  that  they  are  no  worse  used  than 
cattle  and  horses.  But  they  are  bought  and  sold  like  cattle  : 
wives  are  separated  from  their  husbands,  mothers  from  their 
children  ;    it  is  forbidden  to  teach  colored  people  to  read, 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


259 


lest  their  yearning  for  freedom  should  haply  be  increased ; 
they  are  not  allowed  to  give  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice, 
which  means  that  they  do  not  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  law, 
and  may  be  scourged  and  even  murdered  with  impunity. 
They  have  no  more  rights  than  dumb  animals.  The  South- 
ern States  have  established  a  censorship  of  the  Press.  North- 
ern newspapers  and  books  are  opened  in  the  Post-office — with 
the  sanction  of  the  Government — and  abolition  literature  is 
rigidly  suppressed.  Abolitionists  who  dare  to  travel  further 
south  than  the  confines  of  Pennsylvania  are  almost  sure  to 
find  a  bloody  grave.  And  yet  there  are  people  who  look  on 
tlie  Constitution  as  the  Israelites  of  old  looked  on  the  Ark  of 
the  Covenant,  and  this  Union  as  the  Holy  of  Holies.  Olive, 
the  constitution  is  a  fraud  and  a  lie  ;  the  Union  is  a  covenant 
with  death,  an  agreement  with  the  devil.  Oh,  Lord  God,  how 
long,  how  long  ?  ....  It  may  not  be  in  my  time,  yet 
the  time  must  surely  come  when  the  Almighty  will  mete  out 
to  this  nation  a  punishment  as  terrible  as  her  sin.  '  For  my 
sword  shall  be  bathed  in  blood  ;  behold  it  shall  come  down 
in  Idumea,  and  upon  the  people  of  my  curse  to  judgment.'  " 

Mr.  Oldbury  spoke  like  one  inspired.  His  face  was  all 
aglow,  his  eyes  shone  with  prophetic  fire,  his  hands  were 
uplifted,  and  his  voice  trembled  with  indignation  and  wrath. 

He  was  still  denouncing  the  wickedness  of  slave-holders 
and  the  covenant  with  death,  and  Olive  listening  with  rapt 
attention,  for  her  cousin's  earnestness  made  him  strangely  elo- 
quent, when  the  door  opened  and  Mrs.  Oldbury,  coming  softly 
into  the  room,  laid  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  They  are  come,"  she  said. 

Her  husband's  voice  was  hushed  in  a  moment,  and  his  face 
resumed  its  wonted  expression. 

"  Pray  excuse  me,  Olive,"  he  observed  quietly.  "  When  I 
get  to  talking  about  slavery  I  am  apt  to  forget  myself — and 
everybody  else — I  will  see  them  at  once.  Would  you  like  to 
come,  Olive  ?     It  will  be  an  experience  for  you." 

Olive  followed  her  cousin  into  the  next  room,  where  were 
two  women,  one,  middle-aged  and  plainly  dressed,  with  a  worn, 
resolute,  and  watchful  face.  Her  companion  was  so  closely 
cloaked  and  veiled  that  it  was  impossible  to  guess  either  her 
age  or  condition. 

"  Thank  God  you  are  arrived  safely,"  said  Mr.  Oldbury. 
*'  Had  you  any  difficulty  ?  " 


26o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Not  the  least.  But  as  the  vessel  was  behind  her  time  and 
I  had  to  wait,  and  I  am  known  to  be  connected  with  the  under- 
ground railroad,  we  may  have  been  observed  and  followed. 
We  must  try  to  get  her  away  before  daylight." 

"  Poor  dear  !  Let  me  help  you  off  with  your  cloak  and 
bonnet.  You  are  among  friends,  and  for  the  moment,  at  least, 
out  of  danger," 

While  she  spoke  Mrs.  Oldbury  doffed  the  mysterious  stran- 
ger's cloak,  revealing  to  Olive's  astonished  gaze  a  young  girl 
as  tall  and  shapely  as  herself,  with  a  face  no  less  winsome 
than  her  own — complexion,  a  rich  olive  tint ;  regular  features, 
brilliant  teeth,  large  dark  eyes  and  jet  black  hair,  rippling 
over  a  forehead  low  and  broad. 

"  Who  is  she  ?     What  has  she  done  ?  "  demanded  Olive. 

"  A  fugitive  slave,  and  if  she  is  recaptured  will  be  punished 
for  the  crime  of  running  away  by  being  sent  back  to  servi- 
tude, and  all  that  servitude  implies  for  a  young  girl  so  attrac- 
tive." 

"  But  she  must  not  be  taken  ;  you  will  not  let  her  be  taken,. 
Cousin  Hosea." 

"  I  will  not  give  this  poor  child  up,  even  though  I  have  to 
keep  her  here  at  the  peril  of  my  own  liberty.  You  have  been 
away  from  this  land  of  freedom  so  long  that  you  may  not 
know  that  the  penalty  of  refusal  to  surrender  a  fugitive  slave 
to  the  officers  of  the  law  is  six  months'  imprisonment  and  a 
thousand  dollars  fine.  Yes,  that  is  what  we  are  come  to. 
The  grandsons  and  great-grandsons  of  men  who  defied  the 
might  of  England,  and  resisted  to  the  death  the  attempt  of  a 
stupid  English  king  to  put  a  paltry  tax  on  their  tea,  not  only 
connive  at  slavery  but  act  as  slave-catchers.  But  I  am  a 
man  of  peace,  and  open  resistance,  besides  being  ineffectual, 
would  be  inexpedient.  It  is  the  old  story,  I  suppose,  Mrs. 
Sage  "  (glancing  significantly  at  the  fugitive). 

"  Yes — at  any  rate,  substantially." 

"  What  is  the  story  ?  "  asked  Olive  eagerly. 

"  Well,  you  see  she  belonged  to  a  family  in  Virginia.  She 
had  notliing  to  complain  of  in  the  way  of  treatment.  You 
had  a  kind  master,  hadn't  you,  Ruth  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes  ;  and  a  kind  mistress,  and  the  young  ladies — 
all  were  kind." 

"  She  was  a  house  servant,  nurse,  young  ladies'  maid,  and 
so  forth.     She  got  a  smattering  of  education,  too,  has  an  ex- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  261 

cellent  ear  for  music,  and  can  play  on  the  piano  anything  she 
hears.  And  I  daresay,  so  long  as  Mr.  Fellowes,  her  master, 
lived,  Ruth  was  as  happy  as  the  day  was  long.  But  a  few 
weeks  ago  he  died,  and,  his  estate  being  heavily  encumbered, 
the  executors  were  obliged  to  dispose  of  all  the  more  valuable 
of  the  slaves — among  them  Ruth." 

"  But  a  young  girl  cannot  be  very  valuable." 

"  Being  young — and  good-looking — is  exactly  what  makes 
her  valuable.  You  don't  understand  the  South,  Miss  Lincoln. 
There  are  men  who  would  give  three  or  four  thousand  dollars 
for  Ruth,  But  the  ladies  of  the  family,  knowing  what  her 
fate  would  be,  connived  at  her  escape.  One  of  our  friends 
took  her  to  Norfolk  and  got  her  on  board  a  small  trading 
vessel,  which  arrived  here  yesterday." 

"I  may  tell  you,  Olive — if  you  have  not  guessed  it  already 
— that  this  house  is  a  station  on  the  underground  railroad,  of 
which  Mrs.  Sage  is  a  most  efficient  and  devoted  officer.  But 
now  to  the  question  immediately  before  us.  How  shall  we 
deal  with  this  poor  child  ?  There  is  sure  to  be  a  hue  and 
cry  after  her." 

"  Of  course,  there  is  ;  and  as  I  said  just  now,  I  fear  we 
have  been  observed,  probably  followed.  A  very  sharp  look- 
out is  kept  here  just  now  for  fugitive  slaves.  She  ought  to 
be  on  the  way  to  Canada  before  this  time  to-morrow  night, 
but  she  is  too  young  and  unsophisticated  to  travel  alone. 
Never  been  on  a  railroad  in  her  life." 

"  Can  you  go  with  her,  Mrs.  Sage  ?  " 

"  Not  very  well.  Those  people  from  Baltimore  I  told  you 
about  are  on  the  w-ay,  and  should  be  here  or  at  Fall  River 
— I  shall  know  which  to-morrow — in  the  course  of  the 
w^eek." 

"  And  you  must  be  on  the  spot  to  look  after  them.  I  would 
let  Naomi  go,  only  she  is  rather  ailing  just  now." 

"  But  I  am  not  ailing.  I  will  go  with  her,"  broke  in  Olive 
impetuously. 

"  You  are  very  kind,  but  the  journey  is  long  and  not  with- 
out risk — at  any  rate,  of  unpleasantness,  if  an  attempt  should 
be  made  to  capture  the  girl." 

"  Never  mind  the  risk.  Besides,  we  can  disguise  her.  I 
will  give  her  some  of  my  own  clothes,  and  she  shall  travel  as 
my  maid.     Where  shall  I  take  her  ?  " 

"  Tliey  generally  go  to  Toronto,  where  we  have  kind  friends 


262  THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE. 

who  look  after  them.  But  it  will  be  quite  enough  if  you  see 
her  as  far  as  Buffalo." 

"  I  will  go  with  her  all  the  way.  Something  might  happen 
after  I  left  her,  and  then  I  should  never  forgive  myself." 

And  so  it  was  arranged.  Olive  and  her  charge  left  Boston 
by  an  early  morning  train,  furnished  by  Cousin  Hosea  with 
a  few  back  numbers  of  the  Liberator  and  some  other  anti- 
slavery  literature  to  read  on  the  way.  They  went  right 
through,  without  stopping  even  at  Niagara,  and  reached  their 
destination  in  due  course  without  adventure,  either  pleasant 
or  otherwise. 

Nobody  troubled  them.  Nevertheless  it  was  a  memorable 
journey  for  both.  The  octoroon  was  going  from  a  house  of 
bondage  to  a  land  of  liberty,  an  event  in  her  life  she  was  not 
likely  to  forget ;  and  before  they  parted  Olive  made  a  resolve 
which  had  far-reaching  results.  Ruth  was  frank  and  com- 
municative, and  her  story,  told  in  detail  as  they  sped  north- 
ward, moved  Olive  deeply.  When  quite  a  child  the  girl  had 
become  her  young  mistresses'  playmate ;  afterwards,  their 
companion  and  maid.  She  described  her  life,  and  told  how 
happy  they  all  were,  until  Massa  Fellowes  was  killed  in  a 
duel.  And  then  a  great  terror  came  over  them,  for  the  slaves 
seemed  to  know  by  instinct  that  the  estate  would  be  sold  and 
themselves  dispersed  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  Mothers 
went  about  weeping  and  wringing  their  hands  ;  two  or  three 
of  the  men  ran  away  and  were  brought  back,  tied  with  ropes. 
Slave  dealers  came  to  look  at  them,  and  Ruth  was  several 
times  inspected  and  examined,  as  one  examines  a  horse. 
One  night  Missy  Mary  took  her  aside  and  told  her  that  some- 
body had  agreed  to  pay  the  price  demanded  by  the  executors, 
and  that  unless  she  went  at  once  she  would  be  taken  away 
the  next  day  by  her  new  master.  There  was  not  even  time 
for  Ruth  to  see  her  mother,  and  she  reached  Norfolk,  disguised 
as  an  old  woman,  making  as  if  she  were  crippled  with  rheuma- 
tism, only  an  hour  before  the  schooner  sailed. 

The  poor  girl  had  no  hope  of  seeing  her  mother  and  her 
sisters  and  brothers  again,  could  not  even  communicate  with 
them,  would  never  know  what  was  become  of  them  ;  while 
the  slave-holding  power  prevailed ;  might  never  revisit  the  land 
of  her  birth. 

"  And  yet  she  is  as  much  an  American  as  I  am,  and  nearly 
as  white,"  thought  Olive. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  263 

Olive  left  her  protegee  with  the  friends  designated  by  Mr. 
Oldbury,  gave  them  a  sum  of  money  to  be  used  for  her  bene- 
fit, and  offered  to  send  more  if  need  were.  But  they  had  no 
doubt  they  should  be  able  to  find  Ruth  a  good  place,  and  in 
effect,  as  Olive  afterwards  heard,  they  did. 

When  she  returned  to  Roxbury  and  gave  an  account  of  her 
journey,  Mr.  Oldbury  expressed  great  satisfaction,  and  said 
she  had  begun  well. 

"  And  as  I  have  begun  I  mean  to  go  on,"  Olive  returned 
earnestly.  "  So  far,  I  have  lived  only  for  myself.  For  the 
future  I  shall  try  to  do  something  for  others.  When  I  think 
of  my  own  lot  and  that  of  this  poor  girl,  and  thousands  of 
others  still  more  unfortunate,  my  blood  boils,  and  I  am  almost 
ashamed  of  myself  for  being  so  well  off." 

"  You  have  decided  to  become  an  abolitionist,  then  ?  " 

"  I  have.  I  know  that  I  can  do  very  little  ;  but  I  shall  do 
it  with  all  my  heart  and  all  my  strength.  Will  you  help  me 
and  put  me  in  the  way.  Cousin  Hosea  ?  " 

"  Right  willingly.  We  want  to  enlist  the  young  and  ardent. 
Theirs  is  the  future.  It  is  through  the  young,  not  through 
the  middle-aged  and  old,  that  we  can  raise  the  moral  standard 
of  the  nation  and  insure  the  downfall  of  slavery,  or  the  cast- 
ing out  of  the  States  where  it  prevails.  And  you  can  do 
much,  very  much.  Your  mere  adhesion  to  the  cause  will  be 
a  great  encouragement.  And  the  Divine  Ruler  of  the  world 
has  ordained  that  we  cannot  help  others  without  helping  our- 
selves— albeit  this  should  not  count  as  a  motive.  To  con- 
tend for  truth,  and  justice,  and  humanity,  is  serving  God ; 
acquiescence  in  wrong  for  peace's  sake,  or,  in  the  name  of 
political  expediency,  is  serving  the  devil.  You  have  chosen 
the  better  part,  Olive." 

Olive  thought  the  same  ;  but  her  mother  did  not.  When 
Mrs.  Lincoln  returned  from  Vermont  and  learnt  that  her 
daughter  had  become  a  Garrisonite  she  was  ill-pleased.  Like 
the  majority  of  Northern  people,  she  regarded  the  Union 
pretty  much  as  devout  Roman  Catholics  regard  the  Papacy. 
It  was  too  precious  a  thing  to  be  imperilled  for  any  number 
of  blacks. 

"  Let  us  argue  the  point,"  quoth  Cousin  Hosea,  and  then, 
asking  her  a  few  insidious  questions  and  receiving  guileless 
answers,  and  being  a  practised    disputant  and  having   the 


264  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

better  cause,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  confuting  her  out  of  her 
own  mouth. 

If  freedom  were  good  and  slavery  bad,  it  followed  that 
whatever  made  for  the  promotion  of  the  one  and  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  other  must  also  be  good.  If  the  Constitution 
sanctioned  involuntary  servitude,  so  much  the  worse  for  the 
Constitution.  When  Mrs.  Lincoln  tried  to  get  out  of  the  di- 
lemma by  suggesting  that  however  good  freedom  might  be 
for  whites  the  colored  people  were  not  fit  for  it,  Mr.  Oldbury 
invited  Olive  to  tell  the  story  of  Ruth's  escape,  which  she 
did  with  so  much  feeling  that  her  mother  was  quite  touched 
— and  silenced. 

As  Cousin  Hosea  observed,  a  system  which  allowed  the 
white  fathers  of  colored  children  to  sell  their  offspring  into 
slavery  was  indefensible — at  any  rate,  by  a  mother. 

Thenceforth  Olive  had  her  own  way.  She  threw  herself 
into  the  contest  with  characteristic  ardor,  and,  as  Mr.  Old- 
bury  protested,  made  herself  wonderfully  useful.  She  took 
an  active  part  in  running  the  underground  railroad  and  the 
production  and  circulation  of  anti-slavery  literature,  went  into 
Georgia  to  plan  an  escape  at  a  time  when  the  Government 
of  Georgia  was  offering  a  prize  of  five  thousand  dollars  for 
the  production  of  Lloyd  Garrison's  body,  and  attended  anti- 
slavery  meetings,  some  of  which  were  attacked  by  pro-slavery 
mobs  and  often  violently  dispersed. 

For  in  those  days  abolitionists  were  only  a  degree  less 
unpopular  in  the  North  than  in  the  South.  Their  aims  were 
derided  as  visionary  and  themselves  denounced  as  traitors, 
and  Olive  Lincoln  shared  in  the  contumely  and  ridicule  with 
which  they  were  assailed. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  265 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

olive's  vow. 

"  Dear  !  dear  !  Only  to  think  of  it,"  said  Mrs.  Briscoe, 
pensively.  "  Only  to  think  of  it !  We  came  with  the  idea 
of  returning  to  Europe  right  away,  and  five  years  are  gone  by 
and  here  we  are  still,  and  I  am  actually  married  again  and 
you  are  not  married  at  all,  nor  likely  to  be  so  far  as  I  can  see  ; 
and  Mr.  Marsh  has  sold  The  Pines  and  bought  All  Hallows, 
and  wants  us  to  pay  him  a  visit.  I  don't  see  how  I  can  go, 
though.  Your  father-in-law  cannot  leave  his  business,  and 
it  would  not  be  nice  for  me  to  leave  him  all  alone,  and  only 
just  married.  Fact  is,  he  won't  hear  of  it.  But  you  had 
better  go,  Olive.  You  need  a  change  ;  everybody  says  how 
ill  you  are  looking." 

"  All  the  same,  mother,  I  don't  feel  like  going  away  just 
now.     I  doubt  whether  it  is  my  duty.     My  work  lies  here." 

"  It  is  your  duty  to  keep  yourself  in  health,  I  suppose.  You 
won't  do  much  good  if  you  fall  into  a  decline  ;  and  your  work, 
as  you  call  it,  will  keep.  I  fear  it  is  like  trying  to  wash  a 
blackamoor  white,  labor  in  vain.  Abolition  does  not  seem 
any  nearer  than  it  did  five  years  since  ;  and  I  question  whether 
it  will  be  any  nearer  five  years  hence." 

The  signs  of  the  times,  as  they  appeared  to  a  plain  under- 
standing, justified  Mrs.  Briscoe's  forecast.  The  cause  was 
making  way,  yet  abolitionists  were  still  an  insignificant 
minority.  Even  the  political  party  which  called  itself  Re- 
publican, and  was  supposed  to  favor  emancipation,  did  not 
propose  to  do  more  than  prohibit  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  new  territories ;  their  Convention  had  affirmed  "  the 
right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  in- 
stitutions according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,"  which 
obviously  meant  that  where  involuntary  servitude  existed  it 
would  be  maintained,  since  not  even  the  most  sanguine  im- 
agined that  any  Southern  State  v/ould  abolish  slavery  on  its 


266  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

own  motion.  The  sole  hope  of  uncompromising  aboli- 
tionists was  that  the  North  would  purge  itself  of  complicity 
in  the  sin  of  slaveholding  by  seceding  from  the  South. 

"  I  dare  say  a  change  would  do  me  good.  I  don't  feel  very 
strong,"  answered  Olive,  "  and  it  would  be  a  real  pleasure  to 
have  a  run  in  Europe,  and  see  the  old  place  once  more.  But 
I  don't  mean  to  go  until  the  campaign  is  over.  Abraham 
Lincoln  has  said  that  if  slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing  is  wrong. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  his  election  would  be  a  hopeful 
sign,  if  nothing  else.  Who  knows  that  it  might  not  be  the 
beginning  of  the  end  ?  Anyhow,  I  shall  stop  and  see  it 
through." 

*'  As  you  like,  dear.  All  the  same,  I  don't  think  you  are 
wise.  Excitement,  and  running  to  and  fro,  and  going  to 
stormy  meetings,  and  writing,  and  what  not,  are  wearing  you 
out ;  and  you  need  a  thorough  change.  A  voyage  to  Europe 
and  a  few  months  at  All  Hallows  would  set  you  up." 

During  Olive's  sojourn  in  Boston  she  had  received  and 
refused  several  offers  of  marriage,  from  which  some  of  her 
friends  inferred  that  she  meant  to  remain  single  all  her  life 
long.  But  when  asked  by  her  mother  whether  this  were  true 
she  protested  that  she  had  made  no  such  resolve. 

"  Mr.  Right  is  not  come  yet,  I  suppose  .''  "  observed  Mrs. 
Briscoe  inquiringly. 

"  Yes,  that's  it ;  Mr.  Right  is  not  come  yet,"  repeated 
Olive,  smiling. 

This  set  her  mother  wondering  whether  Edward  Prince 
would  prove  to  be  the  right  man.  He  also  was  still  single, 
and  never  remitted  her  dividends  without  asking  to  be  kindly 
remembered  to  Miss  Lincoln,  an  attention  which  Miss  Lin- 
coln never  omitted  to  acknowledge  and  reciprocate  ;  and 
Mrs.  Briscoe  hoped  that  when  her  daughter  got  to  a  country 
where  there  were  neither  underground  railroads  nor  Presiden- 
tial elections  she  might  find  time  to  fnll  in  love  and  marry. 
Wifely  duties  would  be  incompatible  with  rescuing  slaves,  an 
occupation  which  (for  a  woman)  Mrs.  Briscoe  (who  was  a 
very  lukewarm  abolitionist)  did  not  in  her  heart  approve. 

But  the  events  that  followed  the  election  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln were  so  momentous  and  exciting  that  not  until  after  his 
inauguration  could  Olive  be  prevailed  upon  to  seek  the  rest 
which  her  mother  had  prescribed  and  the  eminent  physician 
whom  she  had  consulied  deemed  absolutely  necessary.     With- 


TEE  ERTXCES  OF  PEELE.  267 

out  it,  he  said,  her  health  would  be  utterly  and  irretrievably 
ruined. 

"  You  will  come  back  as  soon  as  you  are  well  enough," 
said  Mr.  Oldbury,  when  she  made  her  p.p.  c.  call.  "  The 
Cause  cannot  afford  to  lose  one  of  its  most  promising 
recruits." 

"  You  may  be  sure  I  shall." 

"  And  single  .?  " 

"  Single  !  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  ever  marry  ;  and  I  vow 
that  I  will  marry  no  man  who  is  less  devoted  to  the  Cause 
than  I  am  myself,  and  has  not  proved  his  devotion  by  his 
deeds ;  nor  even  then  until  the  war  is  over  and  the  victory 
won." 

"  This  is  a  great  vow,  Olive,"  observed  Mr.  Oldbury, 
seriously.     "  Do  you  realize  its  gravity  ? " 

"  Fully,  and  please  God  I  shall  keep  it." 

So  it  came  to  pass  that,  while  her  country  was  resounding 
with  the  din  of  arms,  and  North  and  South  were  engaging 
in  fratricidal  strife,  Olive  Lincoln  was  constrained  to  betake 
herself  for  a  season  to  other  climes. 

After  a  short  stay  in  London,  where  she  consulted  a  special- 
ist in  chest  diseases,  she  went  on  to  All  Hallows.  Mr.  Marsh 
had  made  few  alterations  ;  outwardly,  everything  was  the 
same,  but  all  the  old  faces  were  gone,  and  the  difference  be- 
tween then  and  now  struck  a  chill  to  Olive's  heart,  and  made 
her  feel  more  of  a  stranger  in  her  old  home  than  she  would 
have  felt  in  a  strange  house.  As  she  Avandered  about  the 
grounds,  long  dormant  memories,  the  ghosts  of  the  past, 
thronged  into  her  mind.  She  thought  of  her  father,  whose 
place  knew  him  no  more,  and  whose  death  had  caused  so 
much  confusion  and  led  to  so  many  changes.  She  went  to 
the  grove  where  Charlie  and  she  held  their  first  tryst,  and 
marked  the  fence  over  which  he  and  Daisy  had  turned  the 
somersault  that  so  frightened  her  and  amused  Cousin  Paul. 

Poor  Daisy.  What  had  become  of  her  ?  And  Charlie ! 
What  a  sad  fate  was  his,  and  how,  in  her  girlish  way,  she  had 
loved  him.  Yes,  she  was  a  girl  in  those  days,  and  he  a  boy 
.  .  .  .  Her  one  romance.  It  might  have  happened  in 
another  life — or  a  dream — so  vague  and  shadowy  and  far 
back  did  it  seem.  .  .  Her  mother  had  hinted  a  wish  that 
she  might  find  "  Mr.  Right  "  in  England.  That  would  be 
impossible,  even  though  she  had  made  no  vow.     To   marry 


268  THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 

an  Englishman  and  settle  in  England  while  her  country  was 
distracted  with  civil  war,  and  the  fate  of  the  Union  hung  in 
the  balance,  were  treason  as  base  as  that  of  a  soldier  who 
deserts  his  post  on  the  eve  of  a  battle. 

Her  ideal  was  a  chivalrous  American  soldier,  like-minded 
with  herself,  able  and  willing  to  do  the  cause  yeoman 
service,  whom  she  could  trust  absolutely  and  love  without 
reserve. 

Had  she  said  this  to  her  mother,  that  matter-of-fact  lady 
would  have  laughed  and  said,  "  Don't  you  wish  you  may  get 
him  ? " 

Strangely  enough  (yet,  considering  her  age  and  tempera- 
ment, naturally  enough)  Olive,  while  thinking  she  had  done 
with  romance,  was  dreaming  of  a  nonsuch  Mr.  Right,  an 
abolitionist  Bayard,  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche. 

One  of  the  first  of  her  old  friends  to  call  on  her  at  All- 
Hallov/s  was  Edward  Prince.  Olive  thought  he  was  improved. 
He  had  broadened  out  somewhat,  his  face  was  fuller,  his 
manner  more  dignified  and  urbane  than  of  yore. 

He  had  the  air  of  a  prosperous  man,  whose  position  is  as- 
sured. Since  Charlie's  death  the  world  had  gone  well  with 
him. 

Jack  had  insisted  on  discharging  the  whole  of  his  indebted- 
ness to  his  father's  estate,  and  by  lending  these  and  other 
moneys  to  needy  clients  at  high  rates  of  interest  for  short 
periods,  Edward  doubled  the  ordinary  profits  of  the  office, 
and  as  his  outgoings  were  moderate  he  was  in  a  fair  way  for 
making  a  fortune.  He  also  meant  in  no  long  time  to  repre- 
sent his  fellow  burgesses  in  the  Commons  House  of  Parlia- 
ment, to  which  end  he  was  cultivating  popularity  as  a  fine 
art,  a  fact  that  had  doubtless  something  to  do  with  his  more 
courtly  manner. 

Certain  fears  and  nervous  tremors,  which  had  once  beset 
him  were  so  remote  as  to  be  remembered  only  on  occasions, 
and  a  few  months  before  Olive's  return  he  had  felt  himself 
strong  enough  to  dismiss  Lillywhite,  whose  presence  in  the 
office  was  always  an  unpleasant  reminder,  and  whose  place 
Edward  wanted  for  a  less  self-willed  and  more  energetic 
managing  clerk. 

When  the  old  clerk  repeated  his  threats  Edward  laughed. 

"What  can  you  do?"  he  asked.  "My  father  has  been 
dead  more  than  six  years  ;  it  is  more  than  five  since  Mrs. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  269 

Briscoe's  trust  fund  was  made  good.  If  you  blabbed  nobody 
would  believe  you,  and  I  should  probably  prosecute  you, 
though  I  doubt  whether  anything  you  may  say  could 
hurt  me.  Rather  the  reverse,  in  fact.  Wouldn't  it  tell 
in  my  favor  that,  like  a  dutiful  son,  I  met  all  my  father's 
obligations.  And  nobody  has  suffered.  Jack  has  paid  the 
Liverpool  people  to  the  last  penny.  As  for  the  other  matter, 
can  you  prove,  or  begin  to  prove,  after  this  lapse  of  time,  that 
the  body  found  at  Whitebeach  was  not  my  brother's — and  what 
earthly  difference  would  it  make  though  you  did  ?  The  ^gis 
people  were  bound  to  pay  up  sooner  or  later,  and  if  they  had 
made  any  bother,  I  should  have  forced  them  to  presume  the 
death  by  an  action-at-law.  All  the  same,  I  don't  want  my 
private  affairs  to  be  made  the  town's  talk,  and  I'll  make  it 
worth  your  while  to  keep  a  still  tongue.  You  shall  have  a 
year's  salary  and  the  Rhadamanthus  agency.  It  will  bring 
you  in  something  nice,  and  you'll  get  other  things.  Take 
my  advice,  and  don't  be  foolish.  If  we  quarrel,  it  is  you, 
not  I,  who  will  come  off  second  best." 

Lillywhite  climbed  down.  He  was  not  the  man  to  talk 
for  talking's  sake  or  "  blab  "  to  his  own  loss.  For  once 
Edward  had  the  better  of  him.  It  was  obviously  the  best  policy 
to  take  what  he  could  get,  and  on  the  principle  of  half-a-loaf 
being  better  than  no  bread,  he  accepted  the  year's  salary  and 
the  agency,  though  with  an  ill-grace,  for  he  was  very  angry 
and  his  thoughts  w^ere  bitter.  It  was  shameful  to  dismiss 
him  after  thirty  years'  faithful  service  with  a  mere  douceur 
and  no  thanks.  His  old  master  would  not  have  treated  him 
in  that  way,  and  if  Charlie  had  only  lived — however,  there 
was  no  use  crying  over  spilt  milk.  He  must  just  nurse  his 
wrath  and  bide  his  time,  and  if  he  did  not  get  even  with  the 
jackanapes  one  of  these  days  he  would  write  himself  down 
an  ass. 

When  Olive  asked  Edward  about  Mrs.  Prince  he  looked 
very  grave.  His  mother  was  far  from  well :  that  was  the 
reason  she  had  not  come  with  him.  Meanwhile,  she  sent  her 
apologies  and  her  love,  and  would  call  as  soon  as  she  was  a 
little  stronger. 

"  Oh,  I  shall  not  stand  on  ceremony  with  your  mother," 
said  Olive.  "  I  will  call  on  her.  I  hope  she  is  not  seriously 
iU." 

"  Not  seriously.     I  hope  she  will  be  better  in  a  few  days. 


270  THE  PRIiXCES  OF  PEELE. 

But  she  is  not  strong  ;  she  has  never  been  the  same  since  my 
father  and  poor  CharUe " 

"  And  no  wonder.  Poor  Mrs.  Prince !  Yet  how  brave 
she  was.  Your  mother  is  a  woman  of  rare  strength  of  char- 
acter, or  she  would  have  been  utterly  crushed." 

Olive  spoke  with  feeling,  yet  quietly,  and  she  was  surprised 
how  calmly  she  could  refer  to  an  event  which  at  the  time  of 
its  happening  seemed  like  to  break  her  heart. 

"  Yes,  my  mother  is  a  woman  in  a  thousand.  But  I  fear 
you  will  find  her  changed.  Peele  is  also  changed — though 
quite  in  a  different  manner — for  the  better." 

"  How  so  ?  " 

The  military  authorities  have  established  a  camp — which 
means  a  collection  of  wooden  huts — on  Warcock  Heatli.  The 
town  is  alive  with  red  coats,  and  the  officers  are  quite  a  social 
acquisition — very  nice  fellows,  some  of  them,  and  seen  a  lot 
of  service." 

"I  dare  say,"  said  Olive  indifferently.  The  camp  at  War- 
cock  Heath  did  not  interest  her  much.  "  Is  Mr.  Lillywhite 
still  with  you  ?  " 

"  No,  he  has  left  me  and  set  up  for  himself." 

"  As  a  solicitor  ? " 

"  No ;  he  is  agent  to  the  Rhadamanthus  Insurance  Com- 
pany, an  appointment  I  got  for  him,  and  he  has  other 
agencies." 

"  That  means  he  is  getting  on,  I  suppose .''  I  am  very  glad. 
I  have  a  great  respect  for  Mr.  Lillywhite." 

Edward  looked  at  his  watch  and  muttered  something  about 
an  engagement.  He  had  heard  so  many  people  say  that  they 
had  a  great  respect  for  Mr.  Lillywhite  that  he  was  getting 
rather  tired  of  it. 

"  Kindly  tell  your  mother  that  I  shall  call  on  her  as  soon 
as  possible,  probably  to-morrow,"  added  Olive,  as  her  visitor 
took  his  leave,  smiling  urbanely,  yet  inwardly  much  disap- 
pointed. The  bright,  impulsive,  rosy-cheeked  girl  who  had 
once  captivated  his  fancy  was  become  an  elderly  young  woman 
with  sunken  cheeks,  a  sallow  skin,  a  generally  limp  appear- 
ance and  a  listless  manner.  She  had  not  even  seemed  par- 
ticularly rejoiced  to  see  him,  and  there  was  nothing  in  her 
speech  or  bearing  to  encourage  the  hope  that  she  had  re- 
mained single  for  his  sake.  But  she  had  deteriorated  so  much 
that  this   conclusion  was  less   mortifying  than   it   otherwise 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  271 

might  have  been,  the  more  especially  as  his  passion  was  on 
the  wane.  Few  are  the  loves  that  survive  in  their  integrity 
an  absence  of  five  years. 

When  his  mother  inquired  how  Olive  was  looking  he  an- 
swered dryly  :  "  Quite  Americanized  and  terribly  gone  off. 
But  as  she  is  going  to  call,  you  will  be  able  to  judge  for  your- 
self." 

Whereupon  it  came  to  pass  that  when  Miss  Lincoln  called 
at  Holmcroft  on  the  following  day  her  worn  face  and  delicate 
looks  occasioned  no  great  surprise. 

"  She  is  evidently  out  of  health,"  Mrs.  Prince  thought, 
"  and  when  people  are  out  of  health  they  cannot  be  expected 
to  look  their  best." 

Mrs.  Prince  was  herself  conscious  of  not  looking  well,  and 
Olive  was  painfully  impressed  by  the  change  for  the  worse  in 
her  friend's  face.  It  was  not  merely  that  she  looked  much 
older  ;  the  gloved  right  hand,  and  a  slight  distortion  of  the 
same  side  of  her  face,  rendered  it  only  too  evident  that  she  had 
lately  been  visited  with  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  She  was  also 
garrulous,  often  repeating  herself  and  confusing  events  and 
persons  in  a  way  which  showed  that  her  failing  health  had 
affected  her  memory. 

After  they  had  exchanged  a  few  common-places,  Mrs. 
Prince  made  Olive  almost  jump  out  of  her  chair  by  saying, 
apropos  of  nothing,  that  she  had  lately  received  a  letter  from 
Charlie,  and  that  he  was  coming  home. 

"  A  letter  from  Charlie !  "  exclaimed  Olive. 

"  Yes  ;  he  is  in  America.     Didn't  you  know  ?  " 

"  Good  heavens,  Mrs.  Prince  !  What  are  you  saying  ? 
Charlie  was — drowned." 

"  Did  I  say  Charlie  ?  I  meant  Jack,  Ah,  poor  Charlie, 
he  was  drowned,  as  you  sa}^,  and  is  buried  in  the  family  vault, 
and  we  put  up  a  handsome  tablet  to  his  memory  in  the  church. 
I  meant  Jack.  You  never  knew  my  eldest  son,  I  think.  He 
was  a  little  Vv^ild  in  his  younger  days,  and  we  had  to  pay  his 
debts,  which  were  very  heavy,  to  save  the  credit  of  the  family. 
But  he  went  to  your  country,  my  dear,  and  made  money,  and 
has  paid  back  every  penny,  every  penny.  I  wanted  him  to 
pay  us  a  visit,  aTid,  but  for  this  dreadful  war,  he  would  have 
done.     Dear  boy,  I  should  like  to  see  him." 

"  How  does  the  war  prevent  him  from  coming  ?  " 

"  They  wanted  him  to  accept  a  commission — he  once  served 


272 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


in  the  British  army  and  knows  about  drill,  and  that — and  he 
thought  it  his  duty,  you  know.  But  he  says  the  war  will  soon 
be  over  and  then  he  will  come.  1  hope  so,  for  I  don't  think 
I  shall  be  long  here,  and  I  should  so  like  to  see  him  before 

I  go-"  .       . 

"  Do  you  mean  that  he  has  accepted  a  commission  m  the 

Federal  army  ?  " 

"Yes,  he  is  for  the  North.  I  don't  see  why  an  Englishman 
should  fight  either  for  the  North  or  the  South.  But  he  has 
become  quite  an  American,  and  says  the  Union  must  be  main- 
tained. He  considers  it  his  duty,  you  know.  I  confess  that 
I  don't  understand  it.  Fighting  to  maintain  a  Union  seems 
to  me  like  a  contradiction  in  terms.  However,  Jack  thinks 
differently.  I  suppose  you  did  not  meet  him  in  America. 
You  and  he  used  to  be  great  friends,  and  went  hunting  tch 
gether.     I  am  sure  he  would  have  been  glad  to  see  you." 

"  You  forget,  Mrs.  Prince ;  I  never  saw  your  eldest  son." 

"Never  saw  Jack!  I  beg  your  pardon,  dear,  I  meant 
Charlie.  Poor  boy  !  He  lies  in  the  family  vault  Avith  his 
father  and  five  generations  of  Princes.  It  is  an  old  family, 
and  not  one  of  them  ever  did  a  dishonorable  action  ;  and 
my  son  Edward  is  as  highly  esteemed  in  the  town  of  Peele 
as  his  father  was,  and  one  of  your  mother's  trustees.  Charlie 
would  have  been  the  other  if  he  had  lived.  He  promised 
your  mother,  and  the  Princes  always  keep  their  word.  Yes, 
it  was  him  you  went  hunting  with,  and  I  sometimes  thought 
— Shall  you  hunt  next  season,  dear  ?  You  used  to  be  very 
fond  of  it,  you  and  Charlie." 

Olive  grasped  eagerly  at  this  chance  of  changing  the  sub- 
ject. 

"  Perhaps  I  shall,  a  little,  if  I  regain  my  health,"  said  she, 
"  Sir  George  Somerton,  the  eminent  specialist,  you  know, 
said  that  I  ought  to  take  riding  exercise,  but  only  a  little  at 
a  time,  and  that  I  must  on  no  account  overtax  my  strength. 
And  I  shall  have  to  go  away  in  November,  perhaps  also  in 
December,  the  neighborhood  of  Peele  being  at  that  time 
rather  foggy,  as  you  know." 

"  Where  do  you  think  you  shall  go  ?  " 

"  Probably  to  Torquay." 

"  Sir  George  Somerton !  Torquay  ?  It  is  a  case  of  lungs, 
then  ?  " 

"  That  is  what   they  feared  in   Boston.     But   Sir   George 


THE  FRIaVCES  of  FEELE. 


273 


says  my  lungs  are  quite  sound,  and  with  rest  and  care  I  shall 
recover  my  usual  health.  Yes,  I  should  certainly  like  a  few 
weeks'  hunting  ;  but  it  must  not  be  more,  for  when  I  am  well 
enough  to  hunt  I  shall  be  well  enough  to  go  home." 

"  You  intend  to  return  to  America,  then  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  and  as  soon  as  I  prudently  can.  This  is  no 
time  for  Americans  who  love  their  country  to  be  away  from 
it — save  under  compulsion." 

"  But  women  don't  fight.     What  can  you  do  .'  " 

"  I  shall  go  as  nurse  into  one  of  the  military  hospitals  at 
Washington — or  wherever  else  I  can  be  most  useful." 

"  I  think  you  would  do  a  good  deal  better  to  stay  in  Eng- 
land. However,  if  you  do  go,  and  should  meet  poor 
Charlie " 

"  Charlie  !  " 

"  Dear,  dear,  what  am  I  saying  ?  I  mean  Jack.  If  you 
should  see  Jack — and  it  is  possible  you  may,  you  know — give 
him  my  love  and  blessing,  and  say  that  he  has  my  full  and 
free  forgiveness.  He  knows  it  already ;  but  it  may  be  a  com- 
fort to  him  to  have  it  repeated  by  one  who  has  heard  it  from 
his  mother's  lips,  and  I  find  writing  very  difficult  (glancing 
at  the  gloved  hand).  Not  that  he  did  anything  very  bad. 
Like  many  another  young  man  he  was  led  away  by  evil  com- 
panions. But  he  has  nobly  atoned  for  his  faults,  and  now, 
as  you  see,  he  makes  duty  his  ruling  motive,  even  to  the 

peril  of  his  life I  have  had  great  trials,  as  you  know, 

Olive,  and  trials  equally  great  of  which  nobody  knows ;  they 
have  ruined  my  health  and  made  me  prematurely  old.  I  am 
only  a  little  past  sixty ;  and  but  for  Jack's  redemption  and 
his  dear  letters  I  do  not  think  I  should  have  lived  so  long. 
I  wish  I  might  be  allowed  to  see  him  before  I  go.  But  that 
is  in  the  hands  of  God.  ...  I  must  show  you  Jack's  likeness, 
he  sent  it  to  me  a  year  ago." 

From,  the  drawer  of  a  secretaire  which  stood  near,  Mrs. 
Prince  took  a  leather  case  and  handed  it  to  Olive.  It  con- 
tained the  daguerrotype  of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  with  a 
flowing  beard,  blue  eyes,  and  a  face  in  which  she  recognized 
a  decided  family  resemblance  to  his  father  and  Charlie. 

"  You  could  tell  him  if  you  saw  him  ?  "  inquired  Mrs. 
Prince,  "  and,  as  he  said  he  might  be  ordered  to  Washington, 
you  might  see  him." 

"  Certainly  ;  it  is  a  good  face,  and  easy  to  be  remembered  ; 
18 


2  74  THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 

and,  whatever  Jack  may  have  done  amiss  long  ago,  you  have 
the  consolation  of  knowing  that  he  is  doing  right  now.  He 
is  upholding  a  great  and  just  cause,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  do 
his  duty." 

"  Of  course  ;  he  is  a  Prince  ;  and  he  was  always  reckless 
and  daring.  .  .  .  God  bless  you,  dear.  You  will  come  and 
see  me  again.  Tell  Mrs.  Marsh  I  shall  call  as  soon  as  I  am 
a  little  stronger." 

"  Of  course,  I  shall  come  and  see  you  again,"  returned 
Olive,  as  cheerfully  as  she  could,  for  her  thoughts  were  sad  ; 
and  several  times  during  the  ensuing  months  she  called  at 
Holmcroft  and  had  long  talks  with  the  old  lady,  generally  of 
the  same  trying  sort  as  the  first.  Early  in  November  Olive 
went  to  Torquay.  Shortly  after  her  arrival  there  she  heard, 
with  great  regret,  but  without  surprise,  that  Mrs.  Prince  had 
had  another  stroke,  which  she  survived  only  a  few  days. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  275 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

AN     OLD     ACQUAINTANCE. 

In  January  Olive  was  back  at  All  Hallows,  looking  better 
and  feeling  stronger,  yet  not  in  the  best  of  spirits.  Mrs. 
Prince's  death  had  evoked  unhappy  memories,  and  the  con- 
dition of  things  at  home  caused  her  the  keenest  anxiety.  So 
far  from  showing  any  signs  of  yielding,  the  South  were 
more  defiant  than  ever.  The  people  of  the  North  seemed 
resolved  to  restore  the  Union  at  whatever  cost  of  treasure 
and  life  ;  the  President  was  calling  for  more  troops ;  Paul 
Coniston  and  nearly  all  the  young  men  she  knew  were  at  the 
front,  and  even  Mr.  Seward,  the  Secretary  of  State,  had  ceased 
predicting  that  the  rebellion  would  be  crushed  in  sixty  days. 
The  governing  and  writing  classes  in  England  openly  sympa- 
thized with  the  South  ;  a  great  English  statesman  avowed  his 
belief  that  Jefferson  Davis  had  made  a  nation,  the  leading 
journal  protested  that  the  Union  was  as  dead  as  the  Hep- 
tarchy ;  and  so  bravely  did  the  Confederates  bear  themselves 
that  even  those  who  least  sympathized  with  their  cause  could 
not  help  admiring  their  courage  ;  the  enemies  of  the  Union 
rejoiced  and  many  of  its  best  friends  began  to  despair  of  the 
Republic. 

Among  the  few  who  rightly  discerned  the  character  of  the 
conflict  and  foresaw  its  issue  was  Cousin  Hosea. 

"  Although  the  avowed  object  of  the  North,"  he  wrote,  "  is 
simply  and  solely  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  people  are 
beginning  to  see  that  only  through  abolition  can  that  object 
be  achieved.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  the 
President's  opinion,  and  that  ere  long  he  will  decree  eman- 
cipation as  a  measure  of  war.  The  end  will  be  the  defeat  of 
the  rebellion  and  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  but  only  after 
great  suffering  and  bloodshed,  God's  judgment  on  the  nation 
for  its  sin  and  the  sole  means  whereby  it  can  be  purged 
thereof." 


276  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

All  this  redoubled  Olive's  anxiety  to  go  home,  and  only 
Sir  George  Somerton's  assurance,  that  if  she  returned  before 
her  strength  was  fully  restored  and  the  winter  well  over  she 
would  lose  all  the  good  she  had  gained,  induced  her  to  pro- 
long her  stay. 

"  Ride,  hunt,  walk,  live  in  the  open  air  as  much  as  you 
can,"  said  he,  "  and  in  May  or  June  you  can  go  back  with  a 
quiet  mind — so  far  as  your  health  is  concerned." 

So  Olive,  fortified  by  her  physician's  advice,  and  herself 
nothing  loth,  took  once  more  to  hunting. 

Mr.  Marsh,  who,  though  he  did  not  himself  ride  to  hounds, 
kept  up  the  style  of  a  country  gentleman,  placed  his  stud  at 
her  disposal,  and  two  days  after  her  return  from  Torquay  gave  a 
hunt  breakfast,  at  which  were  many  guests  whom  she  met  for 
the  first  time  and  several  well-remembered  faces.  Yet  some 
which  she  remembered  and  one  which  she  should  never 
forget  were  absent,  and  she  thought  sadly  of  times  gone 
by.  But  when  the  feasting  was  over  and  she  went  outside 
and  mounted  the  gallant  gray  provided  for  her  by  her  host, 
and  mingled  in  the  gay  and  picturesque  throng  of  eques- 
triennes and  cavaliers,  and  the  master  gave  the  signal  for  a 
move,  and  the  huntsman  rode  by  at  the  head  of  his  pack, 
touching  his  cap  and  crying,  "  Hounds,  please,  gentlemen  !  " 
Olive  felt  again  the  sacred  joy  which  only  faithful  devotees 
of  Diana  can  know. 

The  weather,  too,  was  propitious.  A  southerly  wind  and 
a  cloudy  sky  proclaimed  a  hunting  morning,  and  the  knowing 
ones  said  the  "  going  would  be  good,"  which  meant  that  the 
turf  was  neither  too  hard  to  be  springy  nor  so  moist  as  to  be 
spongy.  But  foxes  were  somewhat  scarce,  and  it  was  not 
until  one  o'clock  that  a  ringing  view  hallo  from  the  first  whip 
and  a  series  of  blasts  from  the  huntsman's  horn  informed 
the  impatient  field  that  a  reynard  of  the  right  sort  had  gone 
away. 

And  then  they  had  a  glorious  scamper.  Olive  threw  her 
troubles  to  the  wind,  forgot  both  North  and  South,  Federals 
and  Confederates,  forgot  everything  save  that  she  was  riding 
a  gallant  horse,  and  hounds  were  running  fast  and  free  to  a 
breast-high  scent.  The  gray  knew  his  business  so  well  that 
Olive  needed  only  to  sit  still  and  let  him  go.  He  took  a  line 
of  his  own  from  the  start,  and  never  seemed  happy  unless  he 
was  in  the  same  field  with  the  hounds. 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE.  277 

After  an  hour's  run,  diversified  onl)-  by  two  or  three  mo- 
mentary checks,  the  fox  took  refuge  in  a  hollow  tree,  from 
which  it  was  impossible  to  dislodge  him.  While  the  hounds 
were  baying  round  the  spot  where  he  had  vanished,  most  of 
the  men  dismounted  to  ease  their  horses  and  stretch  their 
legs,  while  two  or  three  ladies,  who  had  ridden  straight  and 
were  well  up,  profited  by  the  opportunity  to  shake  out  their 
skirts  and  adjust  their  hats  and  tresses.  Lydia  Spankaway, 
one  of  the  chosen  few,  kindly  informed  Olive  that  her  hair 
was  down.  As  Olive  was  putting  it  to  rights  she  dropped 
her  whip,  whereupon  two  men,  who  were  near,  good-hu- 
moredly  contended  for  the  honor  of  picking  it  up.  Olive, 
smiling,  thanked  them  "  very  much,"  and  after  a  remark 
about  the  run,  they  sauntered  a  few  yards  further  and  joined 
in  conversation  with  two  or  three  others,  who,  like  themselves, 
had  a  decidedly  military  air. 

"  You  are  highly  honored.  Miss  Lincoln,"  observed  Lydia. 

"  Highly  honored  !     How  ?  " 

"  In  having  your  whip  picked  up  by  a  hero.  Those  are 
the  two  famous  captains  of  the  Red  Hussars." 

"  I  must  plead  ignorance.  I  never  heard  of  these  gentle- 
men before." 

"  I  was  forgetting  you  had  been  away.  The  Red  Hussars 
have  just  returned  from  India,  where  they  greatly  distin- 
guished themselves  in  the  mutiny.  The  two  captains  are  Lock- 
sley — he  picked  up  your  whip — and  Revel,  both  Victoria 
Cross  men  and  inseparable  friends — they  have  fought  side  by 
side  in  I  don't  know  how  many  battles." 

"  They  look  as  if  they  had  been  in  the  wars  ;  their  faces 
are — a  caution." 

"  Yes,  the  Pandies  and  the  tigers  have  spoilt  their  beauty 
for  them.  One  of  Captain  Locksley's  cheeks  is  scarred  with 
a  sabre  cut,  the  other  blued  with  gunpowder.  He  led  a 
charge  on  a  battery,  and  after  receiving  several  wounds  and 
killing  half  a  dozen  Pandies  was  blown  up  by  the  explosion  of 
an  ammunition  wagon.  That  is  what  disfigured  his  face  and 
injured  his  eyes.  As  you  see,  he  wears  tinted  glasses. 
Revel's  face  was  disfigured  and  his  ear  torn  off  in  a  tussle 
with  a  tiger.  He  is  a  great  shikaree  and  has  killed  twenty 
man-eaters  to  his  own  gun." 

"  You  seem  to  know  a  good  deal  about  them." 

"  I  heard  it  from  their  Colonel,  Ethelstan.     Pie  is  a  friend 


27S  THE  PRIXCES  OE  PEELE. 

of  Teddy's  and  called  the  other  day.  Very  fine  fellows  both 
of  them.  Did  you  notice  how  straight  they  rode  in  the  run  ? 
Captain  Locksley  was  first  over  the  brook.  If  I  were  not  a 
hunting  woman " 

"  You  would  not  object  to  one  of  the  captains  as  a  husband, 
I  suppose  ?     Which  would  you  prefer  ?  " 

"It  would  be  about  even  betting,  I  think.  Revel  is  rich, 
and  Locksley,  though  a  ranker,  is  a  gentleman.  He  enlisted 
because  he  could  not  afford  to  buy  a  commission,  and  won 
his  promotion  and  his  cross  by  reckless  bravery." 

"Then  you  would  naturally  prefer  him.  The  man  who 
rises  from  the  rank  is  surely  more  to  be  admired  than  the 
man  who  inherits  a  fortune  and  buys  a  commission." 

"  Well,  I  daresay  you  are  right,  and  as  I  have  plenty  of 
money  of  my  own  the  lack  of  fortune  would  not  be  an  ob- 
jection if  I  meant  marrying — and  he  asked  me.  But  I  have 
noticed  that  matrimony  and  hunting  don't  go  well  together, 
and  I  prefer  hunting.  Yet  any  woman  that  way  inclined 
would  be  glad  to  marry  either.  Perhaps  you  would  like  one 
of  them  yourself  !  " 

"  After  you,  Lydia,"  said  Olive  laughing.  "  When  you  have 
made  up  your  mind  to  marry  the  tiger-slayer — for  I  really 
think  you  are  rather  gone  on  him — I  may  condescend  to  take 
the  hero  with  the  tinted  spectacles.  Where  do  these  gentle- 
men live — at  the  camp  .''  " 

"  I  think  only  the  subalterns  live  in  camp.  The  other 
ofificers — at  any  rate,  the  married  ones — live  in  the  town. 
But,  I  say,  we  must  be  off.  The  hounds  are  gone  to  draw 
Shadow  Bushes ;  and  it's  always  a  sure  find.  Come 
along." 

Whereupon  Miss  Spankaway  gathered  up  her  reins,  touched 
her  horse  with  her  heel  and  went  off  at  a  canter.  Olive 
would  have  followed  ;  but  hunting  is  hard  work,  even  when 
you  are  in  tip-top  condition,  and  she  was  not  in  tip-top  condi- 
tion ;  she  felt  tired,  and  remembering  her  doctor's  injunction 
not  to  overtax  her  strength  and  that  she  was  nearly  a  dozen 
miles  from  home,  reluctantly  turned  her  horse's  head  thither- 
ward. 

An  hour's  steady  walking,  alternated  with  an  occasional 
canter  on  the  turfy  side  of  the  road,  brought  her  to  the  out- 
skirts of  Peele  and  within  a  mile  of  Warcock  Heath.  As  she 
rode   down  a  lane   bordered  with  gaunt  old-fashioned  roomy 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  279 

cottages  and  small  villas,  each  set  in  a  "  garden  fair,"  whom 
should  she  see  standing  at  the  gate  of  one  of  them,  solemnly 
smoking  a  huge  meerschaum  pipe,  but  Mr.  Lillywhite. 

Olive  stopped  and  spoke  to  him.  The  old  fellow,  who 
seemed  greatly  pleased,  acknowledged  her  greeting  by  wag- 
ging his  expressive  nose  and  exhibiting  his  scalp  lock. 

"Is  this  your  house  .-'  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  it  is  my  dwelling-place,"  he  answered,  regarding  the 
cottage  with  some  complacency.  "  We  call  it  the  Wigwam. 
Rather  large  for  an  old  bachelor  with  one  servant ;  but  at 
present  I  have  a  lodger  who  occupies  two  of  my  rooms. 
You  may  have  heard  of  him.  Captain  Locksley,  of  the  Red 
Hussars." 

"  I  heard  of  him  to-day  for  the  first  time,  and  saw  him  ; 
he  was  out  hunting.     So  he  is  your  lodger." 

"  Yes.  We  are  very  handy  for  the  camp  ;  and  the  Captain 
is  not  considered  sufficiently  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
the  Indian  climate  and  his  wounds  to  live  in  a  draughty  hut. 
A  very  quiet  gentleman,  though  he  is  such  a  fire-eater.  Noth- 
ing he  seems  to  like  less  than  talking  about  himself  or  his 
exploits — and  he  gives  no  trouble.  His  soldier  servant  waits 
on  him.  Great  changes.  Miss  Lincoln,  great  changes.  Only 
two  Princes  left,  and  one  of  them  in  America.  Very  sad 
about  poor  Mrs.  Prince.  I  didn't  think  she  would  go  so  soon 
— only  sixty-three." 

"  Only  !     I  consider  sixty-three  rather  a  good  age." 

"  You  wouldn't  if  you  were  seventy-one,  Miss  Lincoln. 
Mrs.  Prince  was  a  woman  of  sound  constitution ;  and  but  for 
her  troubles  might  have  lived  to  be  ninety.  They  say  that 
some  time  before  she  died  she  got  rather  queer,  and  was 
always  harping  on  the  respectability  of  the  Prince  family 
and  saying  that  there  was  never  a  Prince  who  did  a  dishon- 
orable action  since  the  world  began." 

"  Yes,  I  heard  her  talk  in  that  way  myself." 

"  Poor  old  lady,  I  daresay  she  believed  it." 

"  Believed  it  !  ^^'hy  shouldn't  she  ?  Perhaps  you  are 
thinking  of  Jack.  I  am  afraid  he  was  a  sad  scapegrace — 
once  ;  but  as  you  probably  know,  he  has  honorably  dis- 
charged all  his  debts,  and  joined  the  Federal  army  !  out  of  a 
sense  of  loyalty  to  his  adopted  country.  A  man  who  does 
that  cannot  be  really  bad,  and  Mrs.  Prince  might  well  be 
proud  of  him." 


28o  THE  PRIATES  OF  PEELE. 

"  That's  true,  and  badly  as  Jack  behaved  I  always  thought 
he  was  more  weak  than  wicked.  All  the  same,  when  people 
protest  so  much  it  makes  one  fancy  there  is  something  behind  ; 
and  there  are  worse  men  in  the  world  than  John  Prince. 
Have  you  seen  Mr.  Edward — Mr.  Prince,  I  should  say,  since 
you  came  back  .''  " 

"  Several  times  ;  but  not  since  I  returned  from  Torquay.  I 
thought  him  improved — he  isn't  so  thin  as  he  used  to  be, 
and  more  genial.  By-the-bye,  he  told  me  that  you  had  set  up 
on  your  own  account  and  were  doing  well.  I  was  very  glad 
to  hear  it." 

"  He  said  that,  did  he?  Well,  I  am  not  doing  badly — but 
I  owe  no  thanks  to  him  for  it.  However,  perhaps  he  does 
not  think  so.  Can  I  offer  you  anything,  Miss  Lincoln — a 
glass  of  sherry  ?  " 

"  No,  thank  you  ;  I  must  be  going  home.  I  am  very  tired, 
and  my  horse  will  be  taking  cold  if  I  stay  longer  ;"  and  after 
shaking  hands  with  the  old  man  and  expressing  the  wish  that 
they  might  meet  again  Olive  resumed  her  journey,  pondering 
the  while  what  he  had  said  and  wondering  what  he  had  meant. 
That  he  meant  something  she  felt  sure.  Mr.  Lillywhite  was 
not  given  to  talk  at  random  and  she  had  heard  of  his  passion 
for  gathering  and  garnering  secrets. 

His  words  pointed  to  a  mystery.  "  Something  behind," 
and  the  collocation  of  the  remark  that  there  were  worse  men 
in  the  world  than  John  Prince  with  the  inquiry  about  Edward 
had  not  escaped  her  observation.  But  he  could  not  be  allud- 
ing to  Edward.  Edward  was  a  man  of  spotless  reputation,  and 
his  honest  and  able  management  of  her  mother's  affairs  de- 
served their  gratitude  and  had  won  their  respect.  Moreover, 
Lillywhite  had  evidently  a  feeling  against  him  and  was  there- 
fore not  altogether  a  trustworthy  witness.  Could  he  mean 
Charlie  .''  Impossible  !  Charlie  had  a  high  sense  of  honor, 
and  he  and  Lillywhite  were  fast  friends. 

And  yet — why  had  Charlie  broken  his  promise  to  become 
her  mother's  trustee  and  declared  that  he  was  unable  to  give 
a  reason  for  his  refusal  ?  What  was  the  nature  of  the  pledge 
which  sealed  his  lips,  and  to  whom  had  he  given  it?  Had 
Mrs.  Prince  known,  did  Edward  know  aught  of  this  ?  Per- 
haps Lillywhite  did,  but  she  felt  that  not  even  to  gratify  her 
curiosity  could  she  confide  to  him,  or  any  other  body,  what 
had  passed  between  her  lover  and  herself  on  the  day  of  his 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  281 

death.     If  Lillywhite  had  any  revelation  to  make  it  must  be 
spontaneous.     She  should  never  ask  him. 

"  I  have  given  her  something  to  think  about,"  chuckled  the 
old  fellow,  as  Olive  rode  away.  "  Being  a  woman  she  natu- 
rally won't  rest  until  she  knows  all.  The  next  time  we  meet 
I'll  pique  her  curiosity  a  bit  more.  Aye,  aye,  Ned,  I  know 
your  little  game  and  I'll  spoil  it;  and  show  you  up  into  the 
bargain,  you  scoundrel.  You'll  bring  an  action  against  me 
for  slander,  will  you  ?     We  shall  see,  we  shall  see." 


282  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  TWO  CAPTAINS. 

Although  Olive  awoke  next  morning  with  a  few  aches  and 
pains  they  soon  passed  away,  and  she  felt  all  the  better  for 
her  day's  hunting.  When  Edward  called  in  the  afternoon  he 
was  surprised  to  find  her  looking  so  well — plumper  in  body 
and  brighter  in  face,  her  sallowness  gone,  her  color  return- 
ing, her  eyes  sparkling  with  animation  ;  and  she  smiled  and 
talked  in  a  way  that  reminded  her  visitor  of  old  times,  and 
made  him  rue  on  the  spot  his  resolution  to  think  no  more 
about  the  "  minx,"  as  he  had  lately  called  her  in  his  mind. 

"  How  well  you  are  looking,"  he  said.  "  Torquay  has 
done  you  a  lot  of  good." 

"  Torquay  and  yesterday's  hunting.  We  had  a  splendid 
run,  and  I  was  out  in  the  open  air  all  day." 

"  Hunting,  were  you  .''  If  I  had  known  you  were  going  out 
I  would  have  gone  too  ;  though  I  seldom  hunt  now.  I  have 
not  the  time,  and  I  was  never  such  a  Nimrod  as " 

( Here  Edward  paused  and  his  face  clouded.  He  had 
nearly  said  "  Charlie,"  and  Olive,  ascribing  the  pause  to 
emotion  evoked  by  painful  memories,  gave  him  a  look  of 
sympathy  and  pity.) 

"  I  was  never  such  a  Nimrod  as  some  people — and  only 
hunted,  as  you  hunted  to-day,  for  the  benefit  of  my  health." 

"Oh,  but  I  enjoy  it  immensely,  and  if  I  lived  in  England 
I  am  afraid  I  should  hunt  even  though  it  were  not  good  for 
my  health.  Y.et,  although  you  pretend  not  to  care  much  for 
the  sport,  you  used  to  like  it,  and  I  have  seen  you  ride  very 
well  indeed." 

"  You  are  pleased  to  say  so,"  said  Edward,  with  a  gratified 
smile. 

"  It  is  quite  true.  Do  you  remember  that  time  Mr.  Vayle's 
harriers  found  a  fox  in  the  forest  and  we  ran  him  to  the  King 
George  ?     And " 

This  was  dangerous  ground,  which  Olive  perceiving,  hesi- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  283 

tated,  thereby  making  matters  worse.  The  observation  called 
Charlie  to  mind,  as  also  the  rather  sorry  part  played  by  Ed- 
ward on  the  eventful  day  in  question  ;  and  it  was  a  relief  to 
both  when  Mrs.  Marsh,  a  dear,  albeit  absent-minded,  old  lady, 
whose  hearing  was  not  what  it  had  been,  interposed  with  a 
remark  about  the  weather.  But  no  sooner  was  this  suggestive 
topic  threshed  out  than  she  asked  her  guest,  apropos  to  noth- 
ing in  particular,  how  long  it  was  since  his  brother  died. 

"  Poor  young  man,"  she  added,  "  I  shall  never  forget  how 
shocked  we  were  when  we  heard  of  it.  How  long  since,  did 
you  say  ?  " 

"  Nearly  six  years,"  returned  Edward,  with  a  sigh  and  a 
look  appropriate  to  the  occasion  ;  but  inwardly  he  was  furious. 
"  Hang  Charlie !  "  he  thought.  "  When  will  people  have 
done  talking  about  him  1  " 

"  Six  years  !  Dear,  dear  !  How  time  flies  !  Why,  it 
seems  only  the  other  day.  It  was  very  terrible  ;  but  it  must 
have  been  a  great  satisfaction  to  you  that  his  body  was 
found  and  laid  in  consecrated  ground.  I  don't  think, 
though,  that  your  poor  mother  ever  got  over  it ;  and  no 
wonder.     I  remember " 

What  the  good  lady  remembered  was  never  known  to  those 
present ;  for  even  as  she  spoke  her  footman  opened  the  door 
and  announced  two  visitors  : — 

"  Captain  Locksley  and  Captain  Revel  of  the  Red  Hus- 
sars." 

Mrs.  Marsh,  who  had  already  made  the  gentleman's  ac- 
quaintance, introduced  the  new-comers  to  Olive  and  Edward, 
on  which  Captain  Revel  observed  that  they  had  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Miss  Lincoln  in  the  hunting-field,  compli- 
mented her  on  the  boldness  of  her  riding  and  the  cleverness 
of  her  horse,  and  asked  whether  she  had  learned  to  ride  in 
England  or  America. 

"  Oh,  she  learnt  here,"  said  Mrs.  Marsh,  again  unwittingly 
putting  her  foot  in  it.  "  She  learnt  here,  and  had  a  very 
good  teacher,  Mr.  Prince's  brother,  one  of  the  best  riders  in 
the  hunt.  They  used  to  go  out  together  regularly.  Poor 
fellow,  we  were  talking  about  him  only  just  now.  He  was 
drowned  six  years  ago,  almost  within  sight  of  the  Pines,  a 
place  we  used  to  have  at  Whitebeach,  while  on  a  visit  to 
Mrs.  and  Miss  Lincoln,  who  were  staying  there.  You  were 
bathing,  weren't  you,  Mr.  Prince  ?  " 


284  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  We  were  bathing,"  said  Edward,  nearly  inarticulate 
with  rage,  yet  constrained  by  politeness  to  bottle  up  his 
wrath  and  look  merely  grave,  while  Olive,  deeply  pained  by 
this  ripping  open  of  old  wounds,  and  feeling  for  Edward, 
had  much  ado  to  preserve  her  composure. 

"  They  were  bathing,"  resumed  Mrs.  Marsh,  "  and  the 
younger  brother  was  swept  away  by  the  tide  and  they  did 
not  find  his  body  for  a  month  or  more.  It  was  very  sad, 
I  could  never  bear  the  Pines  afterwards.  That  was  why  we 
sold  it  and  came  to  live  at  All  Hallows." 

"  It  must  have  been,  as  you  say,  very  sad.  A  younger 
brother  of  mine  was  drowned  pretty  much  in  the  same  way 
many  years  ago,"  remarked  Captain  Revel,  sympathetically  ; 
and  then,  inferring  from  Edward's  silence  and  the  gloom 
of  his  countenance,  that  the  subject  was  distasteful  to  him, 
asked  Miss  Lincoln  how  she  had  enjoyed  the  run  and  when 
she  was  going  out  again. 

Olive  gave  a  suitable  answer,  and  by  way  of  getting  as  far 
away  from  Charlie  as  possible,  asked  the  captain  how  he 
liked  India  and  how  long  he  had  been  there.  Revel  replied 
that  he  had  been  in  India  eight  or  nine  years,  and  liked  it 
very  well,  only  it  was  so  full  of  sorrowful  memories  for  him 
that  he  did  not  think  he  should  care  to  return. 

"  You  mean " 

"  I  lost  so  many  dear  friends  there — killed  in  battle, 
murdered  by  mutineers,  died  of  hardship  and  exposure." 

"  Yes,  that  must  have  been  a  terrible  time.  The  incidents 
of  the  Mutiny  were  followed  with  intense  interest  in  America, 
especially  the  march  of  Havelock  to  the  relief  of  Lucknow. 
Did  you  know  Havelock?  " 

"  No,  but  Captain  Locksley  did.  He  was  with  him  in 
Persia,  and  took  part  in  the  march.  We  were  not  in  the 
same  regiment  then  ;  our  first  meeting  was  at  the  second 
leaguer  of  Lucknow." 

"  And  you  were  actually  with  Havelock  ?  "  exclaimed  Olive 
turning  eagerly  to  Locksley,  who  had  so  far  taken  no  part  in 
the  conversation.  "  You  were  actually  with  Havelock,  and 
knew  him,  and  took  part  in  that  heroic  march,  about  which 
I  have  read  ?  " 

"  I  was  with  Havelock,  certainly — and  knew  him  so  far  as 
a  sergeant — that  was  my  rank  at  the  time — can  be  said  to 
know  his  general." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  285 

"  And  you  were  through  it  all  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  was  in  every  engagement  between  the  7th  of  July, 
when  we  set  out  from  Allahabad,  to  the  20th  of  September, 
when  we  forced  our  way  into  Lucknow," 

'•  Nine  battles  in  less  than  three  months,"  observed  Revel, 
"warm  work  that,  Miss  Lincoln,  and  won  'em  all  too.  Or 
was  it  ten,  Locksley  ?  " 

"  Ten,  reckoning  the  fighting  at  Lucknow." 

"Won't  you  tell  us  all  about  it,  Captain  Locksley  ?  "  asked 
Olive  softly.  "  Do,  please  !  I  never  thought  to  meet  any- 
body who  had  been  with  Havelock." 

"Tell  you  all  about  it  ?  "  returned  Locksley  with  a  smile. 
"That  is  rather  a  large  order.  Miss  Lincoln." 

"  Well,  then,  something  about  it,  what  you  saw  and  did 
yourself." 

Thus  entreated  the  Captain  could  not  refuse  ;  and  begin- 
ing  with  some  degree  of  hesitation  and  in  a  low  and  rather 
husky  voice,  but  warming  to  his  work  as  he  went,  he  told  the 
story  of  that  glorious  and  ever  memorable  campaign,  of  swift 
marches  though  a  country  swarming  with  foes,  under  a  sun 
so  fierce  that  on  some  days  it  slew  as  many  as  bayonet  and 
bullet,  of  fights  in  which  the  odds  against  the  English  were 
fifty  to  one,  of  the  fine  generalship  of  the  leader  and  the  con- 
stancy and  courage  of  the  men,  of  their  rage  and  disappoint- 
ment on  discovering  that  the  women  and  children,  whom 
they  had  fought  so  heroically  to  rescue,  had  been  foully 
murdered,  of  the  advance  on  Lucknow,  the  desperate  struggle 
to  reach  the  Residency,  and  the  joy  of  the  beleaguered  gar- 
rison and  their  wives  and  little  ones,  whom  Havelock  was 
just  in  time  to  save  from  the  fate  that  had  befallen  the  pris- 
oners at  Cawnpore. 

Olive  hung  breathless  on  his  words,  her  cheeks  flushed, 
her  beautiful  eyes  alternately  glowing  with  excitement  and 
filling  with  tears. 

"  Thank  you.  Captain  Locksley,"  she  said  warmly  Vv-hen 
he  had  told  his  tale.  "  I  hope  that  in  this  hour  of  her  trial 
my  country  will  find  Generals  as  able  as  Havelock,  and  sol- 
diers as  brave  and  devoted  as  those  who  followed  him  from 
victory  to  victory." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  she  will,"  returned  Captain  Revel. 
"  Americans  have  never  shown  want  of  pluck,  and  we  are  all 


286  THE  PRINCES  OF  EEELE. 

of  the  same  race.  But  which  America  do  you  mean,  North 
or  South  ? " 

"  The  North,  of  course.  You  surely  did  not  think  I 
meant  the  South  ;  the  South  are  in  rebellion,"  exclaimed 
Olive  indignantly. 

"  So  were  the  Colonies  once,  both  North  and  South,  and 
quite  right,  too." 

"  But  the  Colonies  were  fighting  for  freedom." 

"  So  are  the  South  now.  And  they  are  the  weaker  party, 
and  one  naturally  sympathizes  with  the  weaker  party." 

"  I  don't  quite  see  the  force  of  that,"  remarked  Locksley 
quietly.  "  The  mutineers  were  the  weaker  party  or  we  should 
not  have  beaten  them  ;  and  when  that  Ghazi  went  for  you  on 
the  Kalpi  road  you  did  not  spare  him  because  he  was  the 
smaller  man." 

"  Besides,  the  only  freedom  the  South  are  fighting  for  is 
the  freedom  to  hold  colored  people  in  slavery,"  said  Olive. 

"  I  don't  think  slavery  has  anything  whatever  to  do  with 
it,"  said  Captain  Revel. 

"  Don't  you  ?     I  will  prove  to  you  that  it  has." 

Olive  left  the  room  and  presently  returned  with  a  little 
book,  from  which  she  read  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina,  wherein  the  meddling  of  the  people  of 
the  North  with  the  involuntary  servitude  of  the  South  was 
given  as  the  cause  and  justification  of  secession. 

"  Well,  I  don't  think  that  slavery  is  half  a  bad  thing,"  said 
Revel  doggedly.  "  I  daresay  those  black  people  are  a  good 
deal  better  off  as  slaves  than  they  would  be  as  free  men." 

"  If  you  think  slavery  is  right  I  have  nothing  more  to  say," 
returned  Olive  coldly. 

"  He  does  not,  Miss  Lincoln,"  said  Locksley.  "  He  de- 
tests it  just  as  much  as  you  do.  Like  the  traditional  British 
soldier  he  never  knows  when  he  is  beaten  ;  that  is  all.  For 
I  am  as  sure  that  you  had  the  best  of  the  argument  as  that 
the  North  have  the  better  cause.  The  Southern  people  dis- 
tinctly say  that  they  are  fighting  in  vindication  of  their  right 
to  hold  men  as  slaves.  If  I  felt  sure  that  the  Northerners 
were  fighting  to  free  the  slaves  they  should  have  my  warmest 
sympathy." 

"  They  are.  Wait  only  a  little  while,  and  you  will  have  cer- 
tain proof,"  said  Olive  with  her  sweetest  smile,  for   she  felt 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  287 

deeply  grateful  to  him  for  siding  with  her,  and  defending  the 
cause  she  had  so  much  at  heart. 

After  accepting  an  invitation  to  dinner  for  the  following 
week,  the  three  guests  left  at  the  same  time,  but  separated 
outside,  Edward  Prince  driving  to  Peele,  while  the  two  cap- 
tains walked  back  to  their  quarters. 

"  A  fine  girl — young  woman  rather — that  Miss  Lincoln," 
observed  Captain  Revel  to  Captain  Locksley,  as  they  went 
along.  "  Her  face  is  both  comely  and  intelligent.  She  is 
clever,  too.  How  she  bowled  me  over  with  that  Ordinance 
of  Secession.  And  I  like  the  way  she  stuck  up  for  her  coun- 
try." 

"  Yes,  she  is  clever,"  said  the  other  absently. 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  fellow  as  you,  Locksley.  You  don't 
seem  to  care  for  the  sex  at  all.  I  think  Miss  Lincoln  inspired 
you,  though,  and  your  account  of  Havelock's  campaign  quite 
took  her  by  storm.     Why  shouldn't  you  marry  her,  old  man  ? " 

"  More  likely  you." 

"  I  am  not  a  marrying  man." 

"  Anyhow,  you  are  rich,  and  can  afford  to  keep  a  wife.  I 
cannot."  ♦ 

"  You  will  not  need  to  keep  her,  my  dear  fellow.  Lilly- 
white  says  she  has  twelve  or  fourteen  hundred  a  year.  And 
when  you  return  to  India  you  are  sure  to  get  a  good  appoint- 
ment ;  or,  perhaps,  a  general  you'll  be." 

"  Small  chance  of  that,  I  think." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  ;  things  much  more  unlikely  have  hap- 
pened.    You  seem  hipped,  what's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  That  girl's  questions  awakened  sorrowful  memories." 

"  Old  comrades  gone  out !  Ah,  yes,  what  a  lot  of  fine  fel- 
lows sleep  their  last  sleep  over  there.  When  I  think — but  it  is 
better  not  to  think ;  we  cannot  bring  them  back.  Have  a 
weed." 

Locksley  took  a  cigar  from  his  friend's  case,  and  the  two 
captains  went  on  their  way,  smoking  pensively. 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Marsh  and  Olive  were  talking  about  them 
— naturally. 

"  They  are  rather  alike,  aren't  they  ?  Do  you  think  they 
are  related  ?  "  asked  the  elder. 

"The two  captains  ?"  said  Olive,  rousing  herself  from  a  fit 
of  abstraction  into  which  she  had  fallen  when  their  visitors 
were  gone. 


2  88  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

'^  Yes." 

"  I  should  not  wonder  ;  they  appear  to  be  great  friends ;  and 
now  you  mention  it,  there  is  a  certain  resemblance  between 
them.  They  are  the  same  height  and  build,  both  have  tawny 
beards  and  hair,  both  are  slightly  bald,  both  burnt  brick- 
red  with  the  sun.  But  these  are  not  family  resemblances, 
and  what  with  their  faces  being  disligured,  and  Captain 
Locksley's  tinted  spectacles,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whether 
they   are  alike  or  not." 

"  He  was  blown  up  wasn't  he  ?  " 

"  Yes,  by  the  explosion  of  an  ammunition  wagon.  I  feel 
sorry  for  Captain  Locksley.  He  looks  like  a  man  who  has 
suffered." 

"  I  should  think  so,  indeed.  Look  at  his  poor  face.  They 
say  he  was  nearly  blinded.     I  wonder  he  was  not  killed." 

"  I  did  not  mean  personal  suffering.  We  soon  forget 
physical  suffering.  He  looks  like  a  man  who  has  had  some 
deep  sorrow." 

"  He  may  have  lost  somebody  who  was  dear  to  him  in  India, 
1  read  in  the  papers  of  a  man  whose  wife  was  killed  by  that 
wretch,  Nana  Sahib." 

"  Had  Captain  Locksley  a  wife  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  aware.     It  is  only  an  idea." 

"  I  should  like  to  know  his  story.  I  think  it  would  be 
worth  hearing." 

"  Perhaps  he  will  tell  it  us  when  we  become  better 
acquainted ;  they  are  coming  to  dinner  next  week,  you  know, 
and  I  hope  we  shall  make  good  friends  of  them.  I  think 
they  are  interesting,  don't  you  .-'  " 

"  Very,"  said  Olive,  and  she  thought,  though  she  did  not 
say  so,  "  especially  Captain  Locksley." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  289 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

EDWARD   SHOWS  HIS  TEETH. 

The  dinner  was  a  great  success.  To  it  came  as  well  as 
Locksley  and  Revel,  Colonel  Ethelstan  and  Major  Phillips, 
all  of  the  Red  Hussars,  Edward  Prince,  and  several  others. 
The  colonel  and  the  major  had  campaigned  in  many  lands, 
and  were  capital  company.  The  talk  was  lively  and  enter- 
taining, the  theme  for  the  most  part,  as  was  natural  in  the 
circumstances,  being  war.  The  two  captains  were  asked  by 
the  host  and  entreated  by  the  hostess  to  tell  how  they  won 
their  Victoria  Crosses,  but  as  both  were  of  a  retiring  dis- 
position (except  before  the  enemy)  and  disliked  to  talk  about 
themselves,  the  task  was  undertaken  by  Colonel  Ethelstan, 
who  acquitted  himself  to  admiration,  telling  the  story,  or, 
rather,  stories  with  a  good  deal  of  dramatic  effect,  yet  in 
excellent  taste,  and  while  extolling  their  bravery  as  it 
deserved,  taking  care  not  to  do  violence  to  their  modesty. 

Nevertheless,  the  two  captains  did  not  seem  quite  to  like 
it,  and  first  one  and  then  the  other  made  an  attempt  to  be- 
little his  exploits. 

"  Any  fellow's  glad  to  win  the  Cross,  that  goes  without 
saying,"  quoth  Locksley ;  "  and  there  are  men  who  have 
risked  their  lives  over  and  over  again  to  get  it,  and  failed 
from  no  fault  of  their  own.  Luck  has  quite  as  much  to  do 
with  it  as  bravery.  I  sometimes  think  the  most  heroic 
things  men  do  are  never  heard  of.  I  once  saw  a  private 
soldier,  whose  leg  had  been  shattered  by  a  musket  ball, 
crawl  fifty  yards  under  fire  and  back,  to  fetch  water  for  a 
comrade  who  was  worse  wounded  than  himself.  That  was  a 
pluckier  feat  than  leading  a  forlorn  hope." 

"  What  a  noble  deed  !  Why  didn't  you  recommend  him 
for  the  Cross  ?  "  asked  somebody. 

"  I  am  afraid  my  recommendation  would  not  have  been  of 
much  use.     Besides,  I  did  not  know  his  name." 

"  But  couldn't  you  have  got  to  know  it .-"  " 

19 


290  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Xot  very  well.     I  was  otherwise  occupied  just  then. 

"How?"  inquired  Olive. 

"  My  horse  was  shot  under  me,  and  I  was  under  him." 

"Were  you  hurt.?" 

"  A  little.     Nothing  very  serious." 

"  I  thought  General  Havelock  had  no  cavalry !  ■'  said  Miss 
Spankaway. 

"  At  first  he  had  not.  I  was  in  the  infantry  at  the  time, 
but  a  scratch  troop  was  organized,  to  which,  as  I  could  ride, 
and  knew  something  of  cavalry  drill,  I  was  temporarily 
attached.     Afterwards  I  joined  the  Red  Hussars." 

"  Plow  came  you  to  know  cavalry  drill  ?  "  demanded  Miss 
Spankaway,  who  liked  to  know  everything  about  every- 
body. 

"  I  was  once  in  the  Yeomanry  Cavalry." 

"  Indeed  !  My  brother  has  a  troop  in  the  Yeomanry. 
What  regiment  did  you  belong  to  ?  " 

Instead  of  answering.  Captain  Locksley  addressed  an 
observation  to  the  lady  on  his  right,  from  which  the  irrepres- 
sible Lydia  inferred  that  he  had  not  heard  her  question, 
Olive  that  he  resented  it — and  rightly — as  an  impertinence. 

Afterwards,  in  the  drawing-room,  the  two  captains  (whom 
the  ladies  had  been  meanwhile  discussing)  were  still  the  centres 
of  attraction.  One  young  woman  asked  Revel  whether  it 
was  true  that  a  tigress  had  bitten  off  the  greater  part  of  his 
left  ear. 

"  Not  exactly,"  said  Revel  laughing,  "  if  she  had  bitten  off 
my  ear  I  am  afraid  my  head  would  have  gone  too." 

And  then  he  told  how  Locksley  and  himself  had  once  been 
so  foolish  as  to  go  tiger  hunting  afoot ;  how  he  had  shot  a 
tigress  without  killing  her,  whereupon  the  maddened  creature 
struck  him  down  with  her  paw,  dreadfully  lacerating  his  head, 
one  side  of  his  face,  and  his  shoulder,  and  how,  but  for  Cap- 
tain Locksley,  who  ran  up  in  the  nick  of  time  and  shot  the 
tigress  dead  with  his  revolver  (not  daring  to  use  his  rifle  lest 
he  should  kill  his  friend)  it  would  have  been  all  up  with  Cap- 
tain Revel. 

All  this  was  so  satisfactory  to  the  master  and  mistress  of  the 
house  that  they  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  see  as  much  of 
their  military  guests  as  possible,  and  Mr.  Marsh  gave  them 
the  run  of  his  coverts,  and  asked  them  to  rabbit-shooting 
and  luncheon  on  the  following  Saturday. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  291 

Edward  Prince,  who  had  been  so  completely  eclipsed  that, 
as  he  subsequently  remarked,  "  he  could  not  get  a  word  in 
edgeways,"  was  probably  the  only  guest  present  on  the  oc- 
casion who  did  not  consider  that  the  dinner  went  off  well,  or 
who,  when  he  assured  Mr.  Marsh  that  he  was  indebted  to  him 
for  a  very  pleasant  evening,  said  more  than  the  truth.  But 
Edward  always  hated  to  play  second-fiddle,  and  he  did  not  ad- 
mire the  rather  off-hand  way  in  which,  as  he  thought,  the  mili- 
tary gentlemen  (especially  Captain  Locksley)  treated  a  person 
of  his  importance  ;  neither,  if  the  truth  were  known,  did  he  re- 
gard with  approval  the  interest  that  Olive  obviously  took  in 
the  two  captains.  For  in  spite  of  himself  the  embers  of  the 
old  passion  were  flaming  afresh,  and  he  was  only  withheld 
from  making  a  second  proposal  by  fear  of  meeting  with  a 
second  rebuff. 

Two  days  later  the  two  captains  made  the  usual  call,  and 
spent  an  agreeable  half-hour  with  Mrs.  Marsh  and  Miss 
Lincoln.  At  the  rabbit-shooting  they  met  Olive  again  ;  after- 
wards, at  All  Hallows,  in  the  hunting-field  and  elsewhere,  they 
met  often,  and  soon  became  good  friends. 

Edward  Prince  also  sometimes  went  a-hunting,  but  his  grow- 
ing importance  and  increasing  girth  had  not  improved  his 
nerve,  and  when  hounds  went  away  he  was  generally  left  in 
the  rear  ;  and  Revel,  seeing  that  his  friend  and  Olive  rather 
liked  each  other's  company,  lost  no  opportunity  of  leaving 
them  ietc-a-tete,  a  condition  in  which,  especially  during  the 
"  hack  home,"  when  the  day  was  over,  they  not  unfrequently 
found  themselves. 

The  more  Olive  saw  of  Locksley  the  more  she  was  con- 
firmed in  her  theory  that  he  had  known  trouble,  and  that  his 
mind  was  haunted  by  sorrowful  memories.  He  was  often 
pensive,  sometimes  answering  her  questions  at  random,  and 
although  he  would  talk  about  his  Indian  experiences,  he  never, 
by  any  chance,  referred  to  his  previous  life  in  England,  or 
wherever  else  it  might  have  been  spent,  or  spoke  of  his  family. 

Once  she  led  up  to  the  subject,  and  said  something  about 
"  his  people." 

"  I  have  no  people,"  he  answered  bitterly,  and  in  a  tone 
which  precluded  further  questioning. 

This  mystery  piqued  Olive's  curiosity — the  stories  she 
had  heard  of  his  bravery  and  of  the  chivalrous  exploit  that 
had  won  for  him  the  Victoria  Cross,  together  with  the  fact 


2g?  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

that  he  had  risen  from  the  ranks  and  achieved  distinction  by 
his  own  unaided  efforts,  had  already  gained  her  warm  admi- 
ration, and  there  was  an  indefinable  something  in  his  person- 
ality or  his  manner  that  she  found  singularly  attractive.  She 
was  also  deeply  grateful  to  the  captain  for  his  espousal  of 
the  Northern  cause.  Since  their  first  conversation  he  had 
made  a  thorough  study  of  the  question  at  issue  between  North 
and  South,  and  when,  as  often  happened,  people  whom  they 
met  abused  the  North  and  expressed  the  hope  and  belief  that 
Dixie  would  win,  he  always  took  Olive's  side,  and  so  potently 
withal  that  they  had  generally  the  best  of  it. 

Edward  Prince  was  quick  to  notice  the  growing  intimacy 
between  Miss  Lincoln  and  Captain  Locksley  ;  it  roused  his 
jealousy  and  provoked  his  anger,  and  in  the  end  caused  him 
to  risk  the  rebuff  which  he  so  much  dreaded.  For  although 
his  passion  was  less  ardent  than  of  yore,  he  could  not  bear 
the  idea  of  a  mere  ranker,  a  penniless  soldier  of  adventure, 
succeeding  where  he  himself  had  failed.  And  he  did  not  like 
the  man;  Locksley  had  never  called  at  Holmcroft;  when 
Edward  asked  him  to  dinner  he  pleaded  a  previous  engage- 
ment, and  showed  no  desire  to  cultivate  his  society.  More- 
over, as  the  result  of  cautious  inquiries,  made  of  the  captain's 
comrades,  Edward  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Locksley  had 
either  done  something  that  would  not  bear  the  light,  or  be- 
longed to  a  family  of  which  he  was  ashamed.  All  that  his 
brother  officers  knew  of  his  antecedents  was  that  that  he  had 
enlisted  in  the  Royal  Roothing  Regiment  shortly  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  and  the  regiment's  departure  for 
India,  that  his  military  record  was  excellent  in  every  respect, 
his  rapid  promotion  being  as  much  due  to  soldierly  smartness 
and  the  intelligent  performance  of  ordinary  duties  as  to  gal- 
lantry in  action  and  coolness  under  fire.  He  had  won  golden 
opinions  all  round,  and  was  popular  in  his  regiment,  yet  he 
never  spoke  of  his  family,  and  it  was  an  open  secret  that  he 
had  no  resources  save  his  pay.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was 
evidently  a  gentleman  ;  Locksley  was  a  good  name.  A  man 
might  live  on  his  pay  in  India,  and  he  intended  to  exchange 
into  a  regiment  on  the  roster  for  that  country  or  already  there, 
an  operation  by  which  he  would  probably  gain  something. 
Meanwhile  Captain  Revel,  a  rich  man,  whose  life  he  had 
twice  saved,  and  who  generally  mounted  him  for  the  field, 
would  take  care  that  his  friend  did  not  want  for  the  sinews 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE.  293 

of  war.  It  was,  indeed,  rumored  in  the  regiment  that  he  had 
made  a  settlement  on  Locksley. 

On  the  whole,  not  a  bad  report ;  but  as  Edward  had  a  low 
opinion  of  human  nature,  and  no  love  for  Captain  Locksley, 
he  made  sure  that  there  was  something  shady  in  the  gentle- 
man's antecedents.  People  had  been  known  to  enlist  in  order 
to  escape  from  their  creditors,  or  to  avoid  a  criminal  prosecu- 
tion. At  the  best,  Locksley  was  a  mere  soldier  of  fortune  : 
and  should  Olive  refuse  Edward,  and  Locksley  be  the  cause, 
it  would  be  the  former's  duty,  as  her  mother's  trustee,  to  warn 
her  of  the  risk  she  incurred  in  giving  her  affection  to  a  man 
of  whom  so  little  was  known. 

Calling  one  day  at  All  Hallows,  shortly  after  he  had  thus 
resolved,  Edward  found  Olive  alone.  It  was  a  chance  not  to 
be  missed.  He  opened  the  siege  very  cleverly,  and  pleaded 
his  cause  in  a  manly,  straightforward  way,  which,  in  more 
propitious  circumstances,  might  have  been  successful.  Begin- 
ning by  reminding  her  of  their  last  interview  at  Holmcroft, 
when  she  promised  not  to  engage  herself  to  anybody  else  until 
she  returned  to  England,  he  thanked  her  warmly  for  having 
kept  her  word,  and  protested  that  he  loved  her  as  much  as 
ever  ;  that,  come  what  might,  he  should  never  love  any  other 
woman,  ^If  she  asked  him  to  wait  longer,  he  would  wait 
longer  ;  he  would  serve  for  her  as  long  and  as  loyally  as  Jacob 
served  for  Rachel.  If  she  refused  him,  she  would  condemn 
him  to  a  life  of  wretchedness.  But  she  would  not ;  she  could 
not  have  the  heart  to  refuse  a  man  who  had  loved  her  so 
devotedly,  and  had  waited  for  her  so  patiently  and  so 
long. 

Edward  deserved  credit.  He  did  his  proposing  admirably, 
and  though  he  told  several  thumping  lies  he  was  really  in 
earnest,  and  pleaded  so  eloquently,  and  Olive  reflected  so 
long  before  she  made  answer,  that  he  felt  sure  it  would  be 
favorable, 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  she  said  at  length,  in  a  low  voice,  "  very 
sorry  ;  but  it  is  impossible." 

The  words  struck  a  chill  to  Edward's  heart, 

"  Why  impossible  t  "  he  asked  in  a  voice  tremulous  with 
vexation  and  disappointment. 

"  For  several  reasons.  Though  I  have  a  great  respect  for 
you,  Mr.  Prince,  and  your  able  management  of  my  mother's 
affairs  merits  my  warmest  gratitude,  I  have  not  that  feeling 


294  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

for  you  that  a  woman  should  have  for  the  man  whom  she 
engages  to  marry." 

"  The  feeling  would  come  in  time,  Olive  ;  I  am  sure  it 
would." 

"  I  don't  think  so." 

And  then  by  way  of  softening  the  blow,  she  added  that 
there  was  another  reason  why  she  could  not  accept  his  offer. 
She  had  made  a  resolution  and  given  a  promise  neither  to 
engage  herself  nor  to  marry  until  the  Union  was  restored  and 
the  cause  of  freedom  had  triumphed. 

This  roused  all  Edward's  ire.  His  sympathies  were  with 
the  South  ;  albeit,  knowing  Olive's  views,  he  had  not  made 
much  parade  of  his  own ;  he  was  terribly  annoyed  at  being 
refused  a  second  time,  and  thought  in  his  anger  that  the 
reasons  she  assigned  for  her  refusal  were  mere  subterfuge. 

"  Is  that  your  last  word  ?  "  he  asked  hoarsely. 

"It  is." 

"Then  let  me  say  that  I  don't  believe  you.  Making  avow 
indeed  !  If  you  don't  marry  until  the  North  has  triumphed 
you  will  never  marry.  It  is  the  South,  not  the  North,  which 
is  destined  to  triumph.  You  prefer  another — you  prefer  to 
me,  a  man  of  means  and  position  and  family,  a  mere  adven- 
turer and  fortune-hunter,  who  comes  from  nobody  knows 
where,  who  has  neither  connections  nor  kindred.  But  let  him 
beware.  I  will  find  out  whether  the  police  don't  know  some- 
thing of  him.  If  it  costs  me  every  shilling  I  possess  I  will 
unmask  that  man." 

Before  Olive,  speechless  with  surprise  and  indignation, 
could  find  words  to  answer  this  furious  outburst,  Edward  was 
gone. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


'95 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

OLIVE      LEARNS     A     SECRET. 

Edward  Prince  was  keenly  alive  to  the  fact  that  in  giving 
way  to  his  passion  he  had  made  a  serious  mistake.  It  gen- 
erally is  a  mistake  to  lose  your  temper.  His  had  worsened 
with  the  improvement  in  his  ordinary  manner.  Since  his 
father's  death  and  his  mother's  decadence  there  had  been 
nobody  to  withstand  him ;  opposition  enraged,  complaisance 
propitiated  him.  When  rubbed  the  right  way  he  was  as  bland 
as  Oily  Gammon,  but  rub  him  the  wrong  way  and  he  would 
almost  certainly  give  you  the  rough  side  of  his  tongue. 

When  you  have  made  a  mistake  the  best  thing  is  to  repair 
it  as  quickly  as  you  can,  and  though  Edward  was  still  very 
angry  with  Olive  (on  whom  he  mentally  laid  all  the  blame  of 
his  own  fault,  for  had  she  not  provoked  him  to  anger  ?)  he 
did  not  want  to  break  with  her  altogether,  or  have  it  known 
that  they  had  quarrelled,  so  on  reaching  his  office  he  sent  her 
a  letter  of  apology,  written  in  his  best  style.  He  was  fully 
conscious,  he  said,  how  badly  he  had  behaved,  and  felt  bit- 
terly ashamed  of  having  so  far  forgotten  himself  as  to  speak 
rudely  to  her,  whom  he  respected  and  esteemed  above  all 
living  women.  Indeed,  it  was  that  very  love  which  had 
caused  him  to  err  so  grievously  ;  her  rejection  of  his  suit  had 
simply  driven  him  frantic,  and  he  knew  not  what  he  said. 
Would  she  try  to  forget  it,  accept  the  expression  of  his 
deepest  contrition  as  an  atonement  for  his  offence,  and  do 
him  the  great  favor  of  not  mentioning  "  this  most  deplorable 
incident  to  any  third  person  ?  " 

Olive  had  no  intention  of  mentioning  the  incident  toany 
third  person  ;  but  she  was  exceedingly  angry — so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  she  did  not  deign  to  answer  Edward's  letter,  and 
though  the  next  time  they  met  she  acknowledged  his  greet- 
ing she  showed  no  desire  to  renew  their  friendship.  For  his 
outburst  of  temper  had  not  merely  wounded  her ;  it  had  re- 
vived old  doubts  as  to  his  sincerity,  doubts  whereof  his  hand- 


296  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

some  conduct  to  her  mother  and  kindness  to  herself  had 
made  her  oblivious.  She  wondered  which  was  the  true 
Edward — the  suave  gentleman  who  smiled  and  postured,  and 
protested  his  love,  or  the  rufifian,  who  had  rated  and  insulted 
her  for  rejecting  his  suit — with  a  decided  disposition  to  think 
the  worst  of  him,  despite  his  professions  of  penitence. 

Edward's  allusions  to  Captain  Locksley  annoyed  her  even 
more  than  his  abuse  of  herself,  and  she  deeply  regretted  that, 
instead  of  replying  with  a  direct  negative,  she  had  given  him 
a  soft  answer  and  assigned  reasons  for  her  refusal.  It  was 
like  casting  pearls  before  swine.  And,  what  was  worse,  he 
had  come  very  near  guessing  the  truth.  Olive  liked  Captain 
Locksley  so  well  that  she  was  beginning  to  fear  she  might 
end  by  liking  him  too  well,  and  in  certain  eventualities  for- 
get her  promise  to  Mr.  Oldbury,  and  forego  her  design  of 
returning  to  America  in  the  early  summer,  to  take  part,  so 
far  as  a  woman  might,  in  the  struggle  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery.  She  thought  none 
the  worse  of  Locksley  for  Edward  Prince's  insinuations — 
rather  the  better,  indeed.  What  though  his  antecedents  were 
obscure,  and  he  never  spoke  of  his  family  and  seldom  of  him- 
self ?  He  had  doubtless  good  reason  for  his  reticence  ;  and 
did  not  the  fact  that  all  that  was  known  of  him  being  good 
imply  that  what  was  unknown  was  equally  good  .-'  A  man  of 
high  courage  and  noble  nature  cannot  be  otherwise  than  hon- 
orable and  brave  ;  those  who  knew  Locksley  the  best  es- 
teemed him  the  most ;  and  he  had  proved  himself  to  be  a 
chivalrous  soldier  and  a  devoted  friend.  If  he  were  only  an 
American,  and,  above  all,  an  American  soldier  ! 

A  few  days  later  Olive  had  something  else  to  think  about. 
Walking  one  morning  in  the  neighborhood  of  All  Hallows,  she 
fell  in  with  Lillywhite — not  entirely  by  accident ;  the  old  fel- 
low had  been  seeking  an  opportunity  "  to  have  a  word  with 
her"  for  some  time. 

Olive  spoke  to  him  kindly  and  asked  after  his  health.  Lilly- 
white  thanked  her  and  protested  that  he  never  felt  better, 
that  he  was  sounder  in  wind,  limb  and  eyesight  than  many  a 
man  thirty  years  his  junior.  Then  he  inquired,  rather  sig- 
nificantly, as  Olive  thought,  whether  she  saw  much  of  Mr. 
Prince. 

"  He  calls  at  All  Hallows  sometimes,  and  I  meet  him  occa- 
sionally when  I  go  out,"  returned  Olive. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  297 

"  The  old  lady  died  intestate,  didn't  she  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  so ;  but  I  really  know  nothing  of  his 
affairs." 

"  She  did,  which  means  that  Edward  gets  everything.  It  is 
precious  little  he'll  hand  over  to  Jack.  She  must  have  saved 
a  nice  penny,  and  there  was  a  pretty  heavy  policy,  too." 

"  On  her  life  ?  " 

"  Yes.  When  poor  Charlie  died  Edward  got  a  fine  haul 
— fifteen  thousand,  and  his  mother  insured  her  life  for  five 
thousand.  He  has,  of  course,  got  that  money  ;  and  one  way 
and  another  I  dare  say  he  is  worth  not  far  from  fifty  thousand 
pounds — to  say  nothing  of  his  practice.  He  is  a  prosperous 
man  and  a  proud.  Miss  Lincoln.  But  pride  sometimes  goes 
before  a  fall." 

Olive,  who  did  not  quite  like  the  turn  the  talk  was  taking, 
looked  at  her  watch. 

"  One  moment,  Miss  Lincoln,  I  have  something  to  tell  you, 
or,  rather,  something  I  should  like  to  tell  you,  provided  I 
have  your  assurance  that  in  no  circumstances  will  you  give 
me  as  your  authority — if  you  should  think  fit  to  mention  it — 
as  to  which  you  can  exercise  your  discretion." 

"  Does  it  concern  Mr.  Prince  ?  For,  to  speak  candidly,  I 
have  no  particular  desire  to  hear  anything  about  him." 

"  In  a  certain  sense  it  does  concern  Mr.  Prince.  But  it 
also  concerns  everybody  else  who  had  a  respect  for  his  brother 
and  deplores  his  death." 

Olive  started  and  turned  pale. 

"  You  mean  Charlie.     What  about  him  ?  " 

"  That  I  propose  to  tell  you — on  the  conditions  I  have 
named." 

"  I  accept  them.  I  give  you  my  word  that  I  will  not  men- 
tion your  name  in  connection  with  what  you  may  tell  me," 
exclaimed  Olive  eagerly.  Was  it  possible  that  she  was  about 
to  learn  the  secret  which  Charlie  at  their  last  interview  had 
refused  to  reveal  ? 

"  Prepare  yourself  for  a  surprise,"  said  the  old  fellow. 
And  then  he  paused,  not  from  indecision,  but  because  he 
hated  to  part  with  a  secret  hardly  less  than  a  miser  hates  to 
part  with  his  treasure. 

''  Prepare  yourself  for  a  great  surprise,"  he  repeated. 
"  The  body  found  off  Whitebeach,  and  laid  in  yonder  church- 
yard (pointing  towards  Peele)  is  not  Charles  Prince's  body." 


298  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Not  Charlie's  body !  Not  Charlie's  body  !  "  gasped  Olive. 
**  What  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Lillywhite  ?  Say  at  once  what  you 
mean." 

"  Simply  what  I  said.  The  body  supposed  to  be  Charles's 
is  not  his  body." 

"  Good  Heavens,  don't  torture  me  in  this  way.  Can  it  be 
possible  that  he  is — not  dead  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is — though  for  a  while  I  thought 

Yes,  there  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  he  was  drowned." 

"  Then  why  on  earth  do  you  say  that  the  body  found  at 
Whitebeach  and  buried  at  Peele  was  not  his  body  ?  " 

Lillywhite  set  forth  in  detail  the  facts  on  which  he  had 
based  his  judgment ;  showed  her  the  watch  which  was  found 
in  the  dead  man's  fob,  and  told  her  how  he  had  ascertained 
his  name.  When  a  man  buys  a  watch  he  generally  keeps  it, 
and  a  watchmaker  generally  knows  the  name  of  the  customer 
to  whom  he  sells  a  good  time-keeper.  The  watch  in  question 
bore  the  name  of  a  London  maker  and  a  number,  and  when, 
some  time  after  the  disaster  at  Whitebeach,  Lillywhite  went 
to  London,  he  took  the  watch  with  him,  and  succeeded  in 
tracing  it  to  its  previous  possessor.  The  maker,  a  wholesale 
man,  sold  it  to  a  dealer  in  the  Commercial  Road,  who,  as  his 
books  disclosed,  sold  it  in  turn  to  Mr.  Thomas  Lindale,  second 
officer  of  the  Orpheus,  a  ship  then  lying  in  the  East  India 
Dock.  W'ith  this  information  nothing  was  easier  than  to  find 
out  the  address  of  the  owners,  upon  whom  Lillywhite  waited, 
and  ascertained  (without,  of  course,  disclosing  his  object  in 
making  the  inquiry)  that,  some  four  or  five  weeks  before  the 
body  declared  to  be  Charles  Prince's  was  found  on  the  sand- 
bank, Thomas  Lindale  had  been  washed  overboard  one  dark 
night  during  a  heavy  gale  in  the  channel. 

The  chain  of  evidence  seemed  complete. 

Nevertheless  Olive  was  still  unconvinced. 

"  But  the  body  was  identified  as  Charlie's  ;  his  brother 
and  several  people  were  sure  it  was  Charlie's,"  she  urged. 

"  If  you  had  known  and  read  about  as  many  cases  of 
mistaken  identity  as  I  have,  nothing  in  that  line  would  sur- 
prise you,"  returned  Lillywhite  quietly.  "  And  just  think  how 
difficult  must  be  the  identification  of  a  body  that  has  been 
knocking  about  in  salt  water  for  four  or  five  weeks." 

"  Still — do  you  suppose  that  Mr.  Prince  had  any  suspicion 
that  this  body  was  not  Charlie's  ?  " 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  299 

"  Suspicion  !  He  knew,  I  told  him  myself — after  the  fu- 
neral, of  course." 

"  But  did  he  know  before  ?  " 

"  That  I  cannot  tell  you.  He  said  he  had  been  deceived 
by  the  fishermen,  which  is  likely  enough." 

"  Did  you  tell  anybody  else  ? " 

"  No.  Edward  would  have  been  very  angry  if  I  had,  and 
he  was  my  employer.  Besides,  what  would  have  been  the 
good .''  I  could  not  have  restored  Charlie  to  life  ;  it  would 
have  made  a  terrible  scandal,  and  for  the  rest  it  is  not  my 
way  to  tell  tales  out  of  doors." 

"  Why  have  you  told  me,  then  ?  " 

"  Because  you  are  going  back  to  America ;  we  may  never 
meet  again,  and  considering  your  relations — how  friendly 
you  and  Charlie  were,  I  mean — it  seemed  to  me  that  you 
should  know." 

This  was  not  strictly  true  ;  but  Mr.  Lillywhite  could  be 
very  diplomatic  on  occasions.  He  had  a  theory  that  no 
woman  could  keep  a  secret,  and  he  felt  sure  that  the  start- 
ling information  which  he  had  just  given  to  Miss  Lincoln 
would  be  imparted — of  course,  in  strict  confidence — to  some- 
body else,  and  so  passed  on  until  it  became  the  common  talk 
of  Peele — without  compromising  him,  since  after  her  promise 
it  would  be  impossible  for  Miss  Lincoln  to  give  him  as  her 
authority.  Edward  Prince  would  know,  naturally,  and 
Lillywhite  wanted  him  to  know.  It  was  the  ex-clerk's  re- 
venge for  his  dismissal,  and  if  the  story,  with  a  few  additions, 
reached  the  ears  of  the  ^gis  people,  so  much  the  better.  A 
little  later  on  he  should  whisper  a  few  other  things  in  the 
same  ear ;  but  for  the  present  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
say  more,  wherefore,  when  Olive,  after  a  minute's  reflection, 
asked  whether  it  was  possible  that  Mr.  Prince  had  any 
object  to  serve  in  so  readily  assuming  that  "  the  body  "  was 
his  brother's  body,  Lillywhite  answered  dryly  : 

"  'Pon  my  soul.  Miss  Lincoln,  that  is  more  than  I  can  say. 
It  is  so  easy  to  make  a  bad  guess  about  motives ;  and  Mr, 
Prince  is  one  of  those  men  whose  motives  are  almost  past 
finding  out." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  Mr.  Lillywhite.  I  am 
sure  you  mean  nothing  but  kindness,"  said  Olive,  pathetic- 
ally.    "  All  the  same,  it  would  have  been  better   for   my 


300  THE  PRIXCES  OF  FEELE. 

peace  of  mind  if  you  had  kept  the  secret  locked  up  in  your 
own  breast." 

Then  they  parted,  Lillywhite  feUcitating  himself  on  his 
astuteness  ;  Olive  with  mind  perturbed,  and  a  prey  to  dark 
suspicions  and  painful  doubts.  Had  Lillywhite  been  less 
circumstantial  and  precise  she  would  have  discredited  his 
story  utterly.  It  seemed  more  probable  that  he  should  be 
wrong  than  that  Edward  should  make  the  terrible  mistake 
which  Lillywhite  imputed  to  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
old  man  could  have  no  interest  in  inventing  the  story ;  and 
the  watch  was  a//<V^  c/^  ('^W77V//>w  whose  significance  it  was 
impossible  to  ignore  :  for  if  Edward's  account  of  the  manner 
of  his  brother's  death  were  true,  Charlie  surely  did  not  go 
into  the  water  clothed  and  wearing  his  watch.  Besides,  it 
was  not  his  watch  ;  she  knew  it ;  and  Job,  the  boatman,  had 
brought  it  to  the  Pines  with  his  other  things. 

If  Edward's  account  were  true  !  And  why  shouldn't  it  be 
true  ?  It  was  beyond  a  doubt  that  Charlie  was  drowned 
while  bathing,  as  Edward  had  told.  And  then  there  came 
back  to  her  the  thought,  born  of  her  grief  and  rejected  in 
her  cooler  moments — the  thought  that  had  he  made  a  more 
strenuous  effort  he  might  have  saved  his  brother's  life. 
Unless  Lillywhite  were  an  unmitigated  scoundrel  and  liar, 
Edward  had  kept  something  back.  If  he  were  capable  of 
concealing  the  fact  that  the  body  supposed  to  be  Charlie's 
was  that  of  an  unknown  sailor,  he  was  capable — of  what  ? 

The  elder  brother  had  been  jealous  of  the  younger,  and 
she  had  proof  the  other  day  that  he  could  be  violent,  that  he 
was  little  better  than  a  ruffian  with  a  veneer  of  politeness. 
Olive  shuddered  at  the  dire  yet  formless  suspicions  which 
forced  themselves  into  her  mind,  like  shadowy  phantoms  of 
the  night.  They  were  terrible  ;  impossible,  unspeakable, 
and  with  a  great  effort  she  chased  them  away.  How  she 
wished  that  Lillywhite  had  either  held  his  peace  or  told  her 
more  ;  and  that  he  knew  more  and  could  throw  light  on  that 
other  mystery  which  had  given  her  so  much  concern  she  had 
no  doubt  whatever. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  301 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

"  THOSE  EYES." 

The  interview  with  Lillywhite  happened  on  a  certain  Wed- 
nesday in  the  month  of  March.  On  the  following  Tuesday 
the  Marshes  gave  a  dinner  party,  to  which  were  invited,  as 
usual,  all  the  officers  of  the  Red  Hussars,  then  at  Warcook 
Heath  ;  and  all — save  Captain  Locksley — came.  "  A  touch 
of  liver,"  explained  Captain  Revel,  had  compelled  his  friend 
at  the  last  moment,  vialgrt  hd,  and  greatly  to  his  regret,  to 
stay  behind.  In  India  Locksley  had  had  malarial  fever, 
from  the  effects  of  which  he  still  occasionally  suffered.  It 
was  nothing  serious,  however,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
week  he  would  be  fit  for  duty  and  the  field. 

Olive  said  she  was  sorry.  She  might  have  said  disap- 
pointed, for  despite  Lillywhite's  revelations  and  her  own 
anxieties  she  had  still  a  thought  to  spare  for  the  mysterious 
captain,  and  would  have  been  pleased  to  see  him.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  a  relief,  and,  in  some  measure,  a  consola- 
tion, to  find  that  Edward  Prince  was  also  among  the  ab- 
sentees. Instead  of  him  came  a  note,  asking  that  he  might 
be  excused,  on  the  ground  of  a  sudden  engagement  and 
pressing  business.  Olive  surmised  correctly  that  the  true 
reason  was  reluctance  to  meet  her  so  soon  after  their  last 
parting,  and  fear  that  her  disdainful  silence  implied  an  in- 
tention on  her  part  to  disregard  his  prayer  to  let  bygones  be 
bygones.  But,  whatever  the  cause,  his  absence  was  satis- 
factory. She  would  have  found  it  hard  to  treat  him  as  a 
friend,  and  to  treat  him  otherwise  might  attract  attention 
and  provoke  inquiries. 

The  hostess  wanted  to  make  a  musical  evening  of  it,  and 
when  the  gentlemen  joined  the  ladies  after  dinner,  singing 
was  going  on.  Colonel  Ethelstan,  on  being  asked  by  Mrs. 
Marsh  to  sing,  kindly  consented,  but  instead  of  the  rollick- 
ing soldier's  song,  which  all  were  expecting,  he  sang,  "  Oh, 
no,  we  never  mention  her  ;  her  name  is  never  heard,"  in  so 


302  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

lugubrious  a  voice  as  to  make  everybody  feel  melancholy. 
Next,  a  lady  sang  an  even  more  dismal  sounding  song  in 
Italian,  which  nobody  understood,  whereupon  Mrs.  Marsh, 
in  despair,  appealed  to  Captain  Revel. 

"  You  look  as  if  you  could  sing.  Captain  Revel,"  she  said, 
in  a  whisper,  "  cannot  you  give  us  something — if  possible, 
something  lively.  Those  sentimental  songs  are  very  nice, 
but  they  are  not  exhilarating." 

"  I  will  do  my  best,"  quoth  Revel  modestly.  "  What  do 
you  say  to  a  rattling  hunting  song  ?  " 

"  Just  the  thing,  by  all  means  ;  thank  you  very  much." 

The  captain  sat  down  at  the  piano,  which  he  played  pass- 
ably well,  and,  after  striking  a  few  notes,  began  : 

"  I've  as  nice  a  little  hunter  as  e'er  you'd  wish  to  see, 
So  high  she  lifts  her  forefoot,  so  proudly  bends  her  knee; 
Her  fiery  head  and  nostrils  red  assert  her  noble  blood; 
Her  girth  is  deep,  and  hocks  she  has  that  send  her  through  the  mud. 
My  gallant  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay." 

"  Now  see  her  at  the  covert  side,  responsive  to  my  hand, 
While  other  horses  fret  and  fume,  how  quietly  she'll  stand  ; 
But  when  hounds  proclaim  a  find,  and  for'ard  is  the  cry, 
She'll  fling  the  dirt  behind  her,  and  o'er  the  pastures  fly. 
My  gallant  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay." 

"  The  scent  is  good,  the  pace  is  fast,  the  crowd's  soon  left  behind ; 
A  minute's  check,  a  view  hallo,  and  onward  like'the  wind ; 
At  a  rotten  bank  and  yawning  ditch  the  funkers  turn  away ; 
The  best  thing,  quoth  the  master,  we've  had  this  many  a  day. 
Oh  my  noble  little  hunter,  my  dashing  little  bay." 

"  Good  heavens !  Miss  Lincoln  is  fainting,"  exclaimed 
somebody. 

Whereupon  there  was  a  cry  for  brandy  and  sal  volatile, 
the  singing  stopped,  the  women  fluttered  round  a  limp  figure 
on  an  ottoman,  and  the  men  asked  each  other  what  had  be- 
fallen. But  the  sensation  lasted  only  a  few  seconds ;  thanks 
to  the  prompt  opening  of  a  window,  Olive  came  to  as  quickly 
as  she  went  off. 

"  It's  the  heat  of  the  room,"  said  one. 

"  She's  not  very  strong ;  rather  consumptive,  you  know," 
whispered  another.  "  She  flushed,  turned  pale  and  went  off. 
A  very  bad  sign,  I  should  say.  Her  friends  should  send  her 
to  Madeira  or  the  Riviera." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  303 

"  Hadn't  you  better  take  a  turn  in  the  garden  and  get  a 
breath  of  fresh  air  ?  "  suggested  Mr.  Marsh. 

Olive  smile  gratefully,  accepted  her  host's  arm,  and,  saying 
she  would  be  back  presently,  left  the  room. 

When  she  was  gone,  Captain  Revel,  at  Mrs.  Marsh's  re- 
quest, began  his  song  afresh  and  finished  it,  little  thinking 
that  it  had  anything  to  do  with  Miss  Lincoln's  faint.  But 
for  her  the  song  was  hke  a  bolt  out  of  a  blue  sky.  She 
knew  every  word  of  it ;  Charlie  and  herself  had  spent  hours 
in  adapting  it ;  the  air  was  the  same,  and  Revel's  voice  so 
closely  resembled  Charlie's  that  it  was  like  a  voice  from  the 
dead.  How  had  this  man  from  India  learnt  what  was 
known  only  to  Charlie  and  herself  .-*  The  shock  and  sur- 
prise coming  so  soon  after  Lillywhite's  strange  tale  were  too 
much  for  her.  It  sent  the  blood  back  to  her  heart,  and  for 
a  few  seconds  she  lost  consciousness,  a  lapse  which  those 
present  ascribed  to  every  cause  but  the  right  one. 

After  a  short  absence  she  returned  to  the  drawing-room, 
looking  somewhat  pale,  indeed,  yet  cheerful  and  composed, 
and,  in  answer  to  Mrs.  Marsh's  anxious  inquiries,  protested 
that  she  felt  quite  well  again. 

"  It  must  have  been  the  heat,"  said  the  elder  lady. 

"  Yes,  it  must  have  been  the  heat,"  replied  Olive,  and  then 
she  sought  an  opportunity  of  asking  Revel  where  he  had 
learnt  the  song ;  but,  as  during  the  rest  of  the  evening  she 
found  no  opportunity  of  speaking  to  him  privately,  she  de- 
cided to  wait  for  a  more  propitious  occasion. 

"  Hunting  is  nearly  over.  Miss  Lincoln,"  said  Revel, 
shortly  before  he  and  his  brother  officers  took  their  leave. 
"  We  must  make  the  best  of  the  few  days  that  are  left  to  us. 
There  is  a  near  meet  on  Friday.     I  suppose  you'll  be  out  ?  " 

"  That  is  my  intention,  all  being  well." 

"  So,  I  think,  will  Captain  Locksley.  He  is  sure  to  be  fit 
by  then,  and  I  want  him  to  ride  a  horse  I  bought  last  week 
at  Tatt's,  a  regular  flyer,  they  say  he  is." 

Olive  would  have  gone  if  only  on  the  off  chance  of  being 
able  to  put  the  question  which  was  weighing  so  heavily  on 
her  mind. 

"  Where  and  from  whom  had  Revel  heard  Charlie's  song  ?  " 
she  asked  herself  again  and  again,  asked  herself  until  her 
head  ached  and  her  brain  was  in  a  whirl. 

Friday  came,  and  Olive  went.     The  day  was,  fortunately. 


304 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


fine  ;  but  even  bad  weather  would  have  failed  to  keep  her  at 
home. 

Among  the  first  to  greet  her  at  the  meet  were  the  two  cap- 
tains. Locksley  rode  a  powerful  blood  chestnut,  so  hot  that 
a  less  consummate  horseman  would  have  found  it  hard  to 
control  him. 

The  Master  of  the  Riversdale  Hunt  was  the  soul  of 
punctuality,  and,  at  a  few  minutes  after  eleven,  the  hounds 
began  to  draw  a  covert,  which,  albeit  a  sure  find,  was  large, 
and  difficult  to  get  away  from.  Moreover,  the  morning  being 
windless,  nobody  had  any  precise  idea  on  which  side  the  fox 
would  break.  A  part  of  the  field  stayed  outside,  another 
division  went  into  the  wood,  and  took  post  in  the  central 
ride.  Captain  Locksley,  whose  horse  the  throng  and  cries 
were  exciting  almost  past  holding,  discreetly  slipped  into  a 
cross  ride,  "far  from  the  madding  crowd." 

Olive,  perceiving  that  Captain  Revel  was  so  far  ahead  of 
the  others  that  she  might  speak  to  him  without  being  over- 
heard, rode  up  to  him. 

"  I  hope  you  are  none  the  worse  for  your  faint,"  quoth  he. 

"  Not  in  the  least,  thank  you." 

"  The  heat  of  the  room,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  I  think  so  ;  the  opening  of  the  window  revived  me  at 
once." 

"  We  had  a  very  pleasant  evening.  I  say,  how  well  that 
little  Miss  Bravo  sings  !  " 

"  Yes,  she  has  a  splendid  voice.  But  I  think  the  song  that 
gave  the  most  satisfaction  was  yours.  Captain  Revel." 

"  It  was  more  the  words  and  the  air  than  my  singing,  then. 
But  it  is  a  rattling  song.     '  My  Little  Hunter,'  we  call  it." 

"  Is  it  in  print .-'     I  should  like  to  have  a  copy." 

"  Oh,  no.     It  isn't  in  print.     I  learnt  it " 

"  Tally-ho  !  Gone  away  !  "  halloed  a  voice  at  the  extremity 
of  the  covert. 

"  For'ard,  for'ard,  hark,  for'ard,  away  !  "  shouted  the  mas- 
ter, who  was  behind  them.  "  Gallop  like  blazes  ;  they  are 
outside,  and  running  like  mad." 

Question  time  was  clearly  past ;  Olive's  query  remained 
unanswered.  The  horses,  as  eager  as  their  riders,  raced 
wildly  for  the  top  of  the  wood  ;  and  the  more  impatient,  dis- 
daining an  open  gate,  took  the  boundary  fence  in  their 
stride. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  305 

The  hounds  were  two  fields  ahead  ;  only  the  huntsman  and 
one  other  with  them.     The  other  was  Captain  Locksley. 

Then  there  was  riding  in  hot  haste  to  "  catch  up,"  crowd- 
ing at  gaps  and  craning  at  big  places.  Several  men  "  went 
•  muckers"  at  the  second  fence,  and  soon  the  field  became 
widely  scattered  and  portentously  thinned.  Olive,  whose 
veteran  hunter  neither  faltered  in  his  gallop  nor  funked  at  his 
jumps,  held  steadily  on  in  the  wake  of  the  flying  pack,  draw- 
ing ever  nearer  to  Captain  Locksley  and  the  huntsman,  who 
were  still  leading.     Revel  had  taken  a  line  of  his  own. 

And  so  for  nearly  half-an-hour,  when  they  came  to  a  brook, 
whose  rotten  banks  and  ugly  "  take-off  "  would  have  baulked 
a  stag. 

"  No  crossing  here,  Miss  Lincoln,"  said  Lockslc}-.  "  But, 
unless  I  am  mistaken,  we  shall  find  a  ride  and  a  bridge  be- 
yond that  plantation  to  our  right.     I'll  show  3'ou  the  way." 

Olive  followed,  wondering  at  his  knowledge  of  the  country. 
He  seemed  to  know  it  better  than  some  people  who  had 
hunted  in  it  all  their  lives. 

It  was  easy  to  jump  into  the  plantation,  but  diificult  to 
force  a  way  through  it,  so  thick  were  the  trees.  As  the  cap- 
tain stooped  to  avoid  a  branch  his  spectacles  were  plucked 
off  by  a  twig.     Olive  caught  them  as  they  fell. 

"  Here  are  your  glasses  !  "  she  said,  when  they  were  out  of 
the  wood. 

Their  eyes  met. 

Locksley's  face,  divested  of  its  disguise,  was  entirely 
changed. 

"  Those  eyes  !     Good  God,  those  eyes  !  " 

Olive  reeled  in  her  saddle,  and  with  difiiculty  suppressed  a 
scream.  It  all  came  to  her  like  a  revelation.  Lillywhite's 
story,  the  hunting-song,  Locksley's  knowledge  of  the  country, 
his  admission  that  he  had  served  in  the  yeomanry  cavalry, 
his  bold  riding,  and,  above  all,  those  eyes. 

"  You  are  Charlie  Prince,"  she  gasped. 

"Yes;  but  no  more  just  now,  for  our  old  love's  sake. 
Another  time,"  returned  the  captain,  hurriedly,  as  he 
replaced  his  tinted  glasses. 

"  Where  are  the  hounds  ?  "  demanded  the  master  (a  welter 
weight),  as  he  crashed  through  the  plantation  on  his  elephant- 
ine steed,  snapping  young  trees  as  if  they  were  willow  wands. 
"  There  goes  Quickly's  horse.     How  the  deuce  has  he  got  to 

20 


3o6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

'em  ?  This  way,  Miss  Lincoln,  they  are  running  through  the 
spinney." 

On  they  go  again,  but,  fortunately  for  those  whose  horses 
are  beginning  to  flag,  not  quite  so  fast  as  at  first. 

Olive  rides  automatically,  feeling  as  though  she  were  in  a 
dream.  Had  her  horse  been  less  clever  and  steady,  and 
Locksley,  who  continued  to  gallop  by  her  side,  less  watchful, 
she  would  have  come  to  grief  several  times. 

After  another  half-hour  they  come  to  a  grassy  lane,  bounded 
by  a  bank  which,  though  a  fair  jump,  is  a  big  "  drop  "  on  the 
further  side. 

Locksley,  wanting  to  see  Olive  fairly  over,  bids  her  go  first, 
whereupon  the  knowing  gray  tops  the  bank  and  slips  into  the 
lane  with  the  agility  of  a  cat.  But  the  chestnut,  naturally 
impetuous,  and  irritated  by  being  held  back,  rushes  blindly, 
jumps  wildly,  pitches  on  his  head,  and  rolls  over  on  his  side. 
The  next  moment  he  is  on  his  legs  again  ;  but  the  captain 
lies  where  he  fell,  motionless  and  limp,  his  face  streaked  with 
blood. 

The  chestnut  in  rising  has  struck  him  on  the  head. 

Olive  screams,  and  two  men,  who  have  got  into  the  lane  at 
an  easier  place,  come  to  her  call.  Both  dismount,  and  while 
one  of  them  raises  the  prostrate  man's  head  the  other  pours 
brandy  down  his  throat. 

Without  effect.     Locksley  still  lies  motionless  and  limp. 

"  It's  a  bad  case,  I  fear,"  says  one. 

*•  It  looks  so,"  assents  the  other.  "  He  has  got  a  terrible 
gash  on  the  head.     See  how  it  bleeds." 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?  " 

"  Tie  his  head  up  with  a  pocket-handkerchief ;  take  him 
to  that  farmhouse  there,  and  send  for  a  doctor." 

By  this  time  two  or  three  more  men,  and  a  couple  of  la- 
borers from  an  adjacent  field  have  come  up  to  see  what  is  the 
matter  and  offer  their  help.  A  gate  is  lifted  from  its  hinges, 
covered  with  coats  and  used  as  a  litter.  Meanwhile  one  of 
the  horsemen  gallops  off  for  a  surgeon,  who  lives  in  a  village 
three  miles  away. 

The  farmhouse  is  fortunately  near,  and  the  farmer's  wife, 
a  kindly  soul,  who  when  she  hears  what  has  happened,  gladly 
receives  the  wounded  man  into  her  house,  and  lets  him  be  laid 
on  her  parlor  sofa.  Olive's  courage  rises  to  the  occasion ; 
she  sees  what  she  ought  to  do  and  does  it  promptly. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  307 

"  I  am  a  friend  of  Captain  Locksley's,"  she  says  to  the 
farmer's  wife.  "  I  will  take  charge  of  him  till  the  doctor 
comes.  We  don't  want  all  these  people  here ;  the  quieter  he 
is  kept  the  better." 

The  hint  served;  gentlemen  and  laborers  promptly  with- 
drew ;  but  not  before  Olive  had  asked  the  former,  if  they  met 
Captain  Revel,  to  send  him  straightway  to  Marie's  Farm. 
This  done,  she  set  to  work ;  got  water  and  a  sponge,  washed 
Locksley's  wound,  rebandaged  his  head,  and  made  him  as 
comfortable  as  circumstances  permitted.  Then  she  sat  watch- 
ing him  and  wondering,  her  mind  at  times  positively  reeling 
under  the  weight  of  the  unanswerable  questionings  suggested 
by  the  startling  discoveries  of  the  last  few  days,  and  above  all, 
of  that  day. 

It  was  Charlie  beyond  a  doubt.  He  had  admitted  it ;  and 
now,  as  he  lay  there,  with  eyes  uncovered,  and  she  studied 
in  detail  the  well-remembered  features,  and  recalled  what  she 
had  heard  of  the  obscurity  of  Captain  Locksley's  antecedents, 
and  his  silence  as  to  his  past  and  his  kindred,  she  marvelled 
that  she  did  not  recognize  him  at  an  earlier  stage  of  their 
acquaintance.  But  this  was  an  ex  post  facto  judgment.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  would  have  been  marvellous  if  she  had 
recognized  him  sooner.  When  you  have  the  best  reason  for 
believing  that  a  man  is  dead  and  buried,  you  do  not  expect 
to  meet  him  in  the  flesh,  and,  in  the  event  of  your  seeing 
anybody  like  him,  the  resemblance  is  ascribed  to  a  blind 
chance  or  a  freak  of  nature — anything  but  a  resurrection. 
Moreover,  Charlie  was  so  much  changed  that,  when  he  wore 
his  tinted  spectacles,  his  own  mother  would  not  have  known 
him ;  and  neither  his  brother,  nor  Olive,  nor  Lillywhite,  nor 
any  other  of  his  old  Peele  friends  had  recognized  him. 
Even  his  voice — and  voices  dwell  long  in  the  memory — was 
altered — either  from  the  explosion  or  the  relaxing  effect  of 
the  Indian  climate  on  his  throat. 

Yet  though  Olive  knew  that  Locksley  was  her  old  love,  she 
could  not  conceive  how  he  had  been  saved  from  drowning 
and  found  his  way  to  India ;  and  why  Edward  had  buried 
another  body  in  his  stead.  Edward  either  knew  that  his 
brother  was  alive,  and  that  Locksley  and  Charlie  were  the 
same,  or  he  did  not. 

If  it  were  a  plot  contrived  by  the  brothers,  how  had  Charlie 
been  persuaded  to  drop  his  identity,  renounce  his  inheritance, 


3o8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

leave  his  mother  and  herself  without  a  word  of  farewell  ? 
True,  she  had  treated  him  unkindly  ;  but  Charlie  was  neither 
heartless  nor  a  lunatic,  and  surely  none  save  a  lunatic  would 
make  so  great  a  sacrifice  for  so  light  a  cause. 

And  if  it  were  not  a  plot,  if  Edward  and  Lillywhite  believed 
Charlie  to  be  dead,  what  then  ?  That  was  the  question,  a 
question  which  the  longer  Olive  pondered  it,  the  harder  it 
seemed,  and  he  who  alone  could  clear  up  the  mystery  lay  like 
one  in  very  truth  dead,  and  might  never.  ,  .  .  The  thought 
was  madness.  He  must  recover,  must,  must.  .  .  .  Would 
the  doctor  never  come  ? 

Olive  was  roused  from  her  reverie  by  the  clatter  of  hoofs 
on  the  road,  and  presently  Captain  Revel  appeared. 

"  This  is  a  bad  business,"  he  said  sorrowfully,  regarding 
his  unconscious  friend,  "  a  very  bad  business.  And  all  my 
fault.  I  should  not  have  let  him  ride  the  chestnut.  He  is 
too  hot  for  this  country.  We  want  horses  that  can  creep  as 
well  as  fly.  I  don't  think  it  is  anything  very  serious,  though. 
It  looks  like  a  case  of  concussion  of  the  brain.  The  doctor 
will  be  here  presently.  I  passed  through  the  village  where 
he  lives.  He  is  coming  in  his  trap  as  fast  as  he  can.  I  out- 
paced him How  good  of  you  to  stay  with  Locksley  ! 

He  will  be  very  grateful  when  he  knows.  Wheels.  There 
he  is.  Now  we  shall  know  the  worst.  I  do  hope  it  isn't  a 
fracture." 

As  Revel  spoke,  the  surgeon  came  in.  He  was  a  man  of 
few  words;  and  without  wasting  any  time  removed  the  band- 
age and  carefully  examined  the  wound,  which  still  bled  pro- 
fusely. 

"  It's  a  nasty  cut,  and  narrowly  missed  being  fatal,"  he 
said  at  length. 

"  Is  it  a  fracture  ? "  asked  Revel  anxiously. 

"  No,  a  superficial  scalp  wound  and  severe  concussion  of 
the  brain.  He  will  probably  remain  unconscious  for  several 
days  ;  but  I  daresay  we  can  pull  him  through — if  all  goes  well." 

When  the  doctor  had  stopped  the  hemorrhage  and  stitched 
up  the  wound,  he  asked  Revel  whether  he  proposed  to  keep 
Captain  Locksley  at  the  farmhouse  or  take  him  to  his  own. 

"Take  him  to  his  own,  if  it  can  be  done  safely.  We  have 
ambulances   at  the  camp." 

"  The  ambulance,  by  all  means.  How  soon  can  you  have 
it  here  ? " 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


309 


"  In  less  than  two  hours.  I  will  go  at  once,  and  send  off 
an  ambulance  with  one  of  our  hospital  orderlies  and  Captain 
Locksley's  servant,  and  then  return.  Shall  you  remain 
here  ? " 

"  Certainly  ;  and  see  my  patient  safely  home." 

Olive  inquired  whether  she  could  be  of  any  further  use, 
adding  that  if  she  could  she  would  be  glad  to  stay.  The 
doctor  thought  not,  and  suggested  that  the  best  thing  she 
jcould  do  was  to  take  a  glass  of  wine  and  go  home  quietly. 
He  saw  that  the  shock  and  the  strain  had  been  almost  too 
much  for  her  strength. 

Olive  took  the  glass  of  wine  and  left  with  Captain  Revel, 
whose  road  and  her  own  lay  for  some  miles  together. 

"  Am  I  to  conclude  that  you  think  there  is  danger,  doctor  1  " 
demanded  the  captain  before  he  went  away. 

"  Concussion  is  never  free  from  danger;  and  we  may  have 
complications.  We  are  pretty  sure  to  have  inflammatory 
fever ;  but  Captain  Locksley  is  young,  and  as  I  said  before, 
I  hope  for  the  best,"  was  the  cautious  answer. 


3IO  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

ANOTHER    DISAPPOINTMENT. 

LocKSLEY  remained  unconscious  for  the  greater  part  of  a 
week;  theninflammatory  fever  and  delirium  supervened  ;  and 
his  convalescence  was  slow.  But  Miss  Lincoln  heard  of  him 
often — sometimes  through  Revel :  and  several  times  a  week 
Mrs.  Marsh  sent  a  servant  to  inquire  how  it  fared  with  the 
gallant  captain. 

One  day  when  he  was  quite  out  of  danger  and  in  his  right 
mind,  Olive  had  a  visit  from  Lillywhite.  His  ostensible  rea- 
son was  to  convey  Captain  Locksley's  thanks  to  Miss  Lin- 
coln for  the  kindness  and  attention  she  had  shown  him  at 
the  time  of  his  accident,  but  this  was  merely  a  pretext :  the 
message  might  just  as  well  have  been  sent  by  Revel. 

After  Lillywhite  had  given  her  an  account  of  his  lodger's 
condition,  and  observed  that  it  would  be  several  months  be- 
fore he  was  fully  recovered,  her  visitor  said  abruptly  : — 

"  You  know  who  he  is  ?  " 

Olive  nodded  assent. 

"  He  told  me  so  ;  and  he  is  very  anxious  that  you  should 
keep  the  knowledge  to  yourself — for  the  present." 

"  I  have  not  told  anybody,  nor  shall  I,  until  I  see  him.  I 
suppose  you  have  known  all  along  1 " 

"  No.  Only  since  the  accident.  When  he  was  delirious 
he  said  things  that  gave  me  the  idea,  and  then  by  putting 
two  and  two  together  I  saw  how  it  was.  And  I  am  really 
humiliated  to  think  that  I,  who  had  fancied  myself  rather 
clever  at  finding  things  out,  should  have  had  Charles  Prince 
in  my  house  for  months  without  discovering  his  secret.  But 
though  I  knew  that  it  was  not  his  body  that  lay  in  the  family 
vault,  I  did  not  doubt  that  he  was  drowned  :  and  that,  I  sup- 
pose, accounts  for  my  blindness." 

"  Do  you  think  Edward  knows  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  He  could  not  sleep  in  his  bed  if  he  did. 
I  saw  him  in  Peele  yesterday.     He  was  all  smiles,  greeted  me 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


311 


affably,  and  looked  uncommonly  well  satisfied  with  himself. 
Do  you  know,  I  don't  think  he  greatly  regrets  the  accident 
which  has  befallen  Captain  Locksley." 

Olive  reddened  with  indignation,  and,  probably,  another 
feeling. 

"  But  what  does  it  all  mean  ?  "  she  asked.  "  How  could 
Charlie  escape  drowning  without  his  brother's  knowledge,  and 
having  escaped  Vvhy,  instead  of  returning  to  Whitebeach  or 
Peele,  did  he  take  another  name  and  enlist ;  and,  above  all, 
why  did  Edward  commit  the  unspeakable  atrocity  of  burying 
as  Charlie's  a  body  that  was  not  Charlie's  ?  " 

"  That  is  more  than  I  can  say.  As  yet,  Charles  has  told 
me  very  little.  He  is  too  weak  for  much  talk.  I  suspect 
many  things,  and,  I  daresay,  have  formed  a  pretty  accurate 
guess  as  to  how  it  came  about.  But,  as  I  have  no  certain 
knowledge,  and  could  not  say  what  I  suspect  without  bring- 
ing a  very  serious  charge  against  a  certain  person,  I  think  you 
will  have  to  wait  until  Captain  Locksley  can  tell  you  him- 
self." 

"  You  mean  that  you  won't  tell  me." 

"  Don't  put  it  in  that  way,  I  beseech  you,"  said  Lillywhite 
plaintively.  "  I  would  do  anything  in  reason  to  oblige  a  lady, 
indeed  I  would  ;  especially  a  lady  for  whom  I  have  so  great  a 
regard  as  yourself.  But  this  secret  is  not  mine.  Moreover, 
as  I  don't  know  all  the  facts  I  may  be  quite  wrong ;  and  it 
would  be  much  better  and  pleasanter  for  you  to  hear  the 
story  from  the  fountain-head  ;  and  I  am  sure  the  captain 
would  be  ill-pleased  if  I  tried  to  anticipate  him." 

"  But  how  is  it  to  be  managed  .''  I  cannot  call  on  Captain 
Locksley  alone." 

"  Mrs.  Marsh  might  come  with  you." 

"  Then  we  should  not  be  alone." 

"  Why,  when  he  is  a  little  better  should  not  ]\Irs.  Marsh 
ask  him  to  spend  a  few  days  at  All  Hallows  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  I  could  not  well  propose  anything  of  the  sort 
without  exciting  suspicion." 

"  Well,  you  get  Mrs.  Marsh  to  call  with  you — or  without 
you,  and  I'll  manage  the  rest.  She  is  a  kind-hearted  lady, 
and  only  needs  a  hint.  Have  you  mentioned  to  anybody 
what  I  told  you  about  the  wrong  body  being  buried  .''  " 

"  How  could  I  without  giving  my  authority  .-'  Besides,  it 
would  have  made  such  a  talk." 


312  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  Humph  !  There  is  at  least  one  woman  who  can  keep  a 
secret,"  thought  Lillywhite.  "  And  it's  just  as  well ;  we'll 
punish  that  jackanapes  another  way,  and  more  effectually." 

"  Have  you  any  word  for  the  captain,  Miss  Lincoln  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Say  how  glad  we  are  that  he  is  getting  on  so  well,  and 
that  we  hope  he  will  soon  be  quite  strong.  And  give  him 
this,"  (taking  a  forget-me-not  from  a  vase  of  flowers  on  the 
table). 

So  Olive  had  to  possess  her  soul  in  patience  longer  than 
she  liked  or  had  anticipated,  which  was  all  the  more  provok- 
ing as  she  had  given  Mr.  Oldbury  cause  to  believe  that  she 
would  be  back  in  Boston  before  June,  and  already  the  haw- 
thorn was  beginning  to  bloom,  the  perfume  of  violets  and 
primroses  was  in  the  air,  and  the  woods  at  eve  were  melo- 
dious with  the  songs  of  thrushes  and  nightingales.  Spring- 
tide was  in  all  its  glory  and  summer  advancing  with  flying 
feet. 

Yet  until  the  mystery  of  Charlie's  disappearance  should 
be  solved  and  himself  restored  to  health  she  really  could 
not  leave  England.  She  was  as  determined  as  ever  to  re- 
turn to  America,  but  a  month  more  or  less  would  make  no 
great  difference.  Wherefoi"e  she  informed  her  cousin  that 
circumstances  had  arisen  which  might  detain  her  where  she 
was  until  July. 

"  I  hear  that  Captain  Locksley  continues  to  mend  ;  he  is 
downstairs,"  said  Mrs.  Marsh  to  Olive,  one  day  about  a 
fortnight  after  Lillywhite's  visit. 

"  I  am  very  glad.  Shall  you  call  ?  Do  you  think  he  is 
strong  enough  to  receive  visitors  .''  " 

"Why  not?     He  is  strong  enough  to  come  dowstairs." 

"  Very  well.  We  will  call  to-morrow.  I  have  a  great  re- 
spect for  Captain  Locksley." 

So  on  the  morrow  the  ladies  were  driven  to  Woodbine 
Cottage,  as  Lillywhite  called  his  dwelling.  They  found  him 
at  work  in  the  garden. 

"  How  is  the  captain  ?  "  inquired  Mrs.  Marsh. 

"Getting  on  nicely,  thank  you.  Still  very  weak,  though, 
and  I  fear  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  he  fully  regains  his 
strength.  He  wants  a  change,  and  I  was  thinking  whether 
I  might  take  the  liberty  of  making  a  suggestion  to  Mrs. 
Marsh  t  " 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  313 

"  What  is  it  ?  I  am  sure  if  I  can  be  of  any  use  I  sliall  be 
very  glad." 

"  I  was  thinking  that  a  few  days  at  All  Hallows  Avould  do 
him  a  power  of  good.  The  situation  is  so  breezy,  the  gardens 
so  spacious,  and  the  view  so  fine " 

"  A  very  good  idea,  Mr.  Lillywhite.  I  am  obliged  to  you 
for  mentioning  it,  I  shall  certainly  ask  him.  Can  we  see 
him,  or ?" 

Lillywhite  showed  them  into  the  cottage.  They  found 
t4ie  sick  man  sitting  near  the  window  basking  in  the  sun- 
shine. 

At  the  sight  of  them  his  face  lighted  up  with  smiles, 
and  he  thanked  Mrs.  Marsh  warmly  for  her  visit ;  Olive, 
less  profusely,  but  the  glance  which  he  gave  her  was  more 
expressive  than  words,  and  went  to  her  heart.  She  thought 
he  was  looking  less  unlike  his  old  self — perhaps  because 
confinement  in  the  house  had  robbed  his  face  of  much  of 
the  bronze  tinge  it  had  acquired  in  India,  yet  the  resem- 
blance was  still  so  remote  as  to  render  it  unlikely  that  any- 
body less  sharp-sighted  than  herself  would  recognize  him. 

After  Locksley's  guests  had  congratulated  him  on  his  re- 
covery and  talked  about  the  accident  and  other  matters, 
Mrs.  Marsh  asked  him  to  make  a  long  visit  to  All  Hallows 
whenever  he  was  well  enough.  Locksley  protested  that 
nothing  would  give  him  so  much  pleasure  ;  but  so  soon  as  he 
was  fit  to  travel,  which  would  be  in  about  a  week,  the  doctor 
said  he  must  go  to  Brighton  for  at  least  a  month.  Sea  air  and 
sea  bathing  would  do  him  all  the  good  in  the  world.  When 
he  came  back  from  Brighton  he  had  to  go  to  Captain  Revel's 
people  in  Surrey  ;  but  that  visit  he  could  put  off  for  a  while, 
and  in  the  meantime  should  be  delighted  to  profit  by  Mrs. 
Marsh's  invitation. 

This  proposal  pleased  Mrs.  Marsh,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
Captain  Locksley  should  make  his  visit  to  All  Hallows  on 
his  return  from  Brighton.  Olive  was  disappointed  :  she 
would  have  to  wait  at  least  another  month  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  her  curiosity,  and  defer  even  longer  her  departure 
for  America.  What  would  Cousin  Hosea  say  ?  Yet  she 
could  not  blame  Charlie.  As  the  doctor  had  ordered  him  to 
go  to  Brighton  ;  and  the  sea  air  and  salt  water  would  do 
him  so  much  good,  go  he  must,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 
And,  after   all,  five  or   six   weeks   are   not  an   eternity ;  the 


314  THE  nUNCES  OF  PEELE. 

year  was  still  young,  and  she  would  be  back  in  Boston  be- 
fore the  fall.  All  the  same,  Olive  felt  that  she  was  not  being 
altogether  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  her  promise  and  her  vow, 
that  her  allegiance  to  the  cause  was  wavering ;  and  she 
began  to  look  forward  to  her  cousin's  letters  with  less  of 
desire  than  of  apprehension. 

July  was  drawing  to  a  close  when  Captain  Locksley  came 
to  All  Hallows,  looking  all  the  better  for  his  sojourn  at  the 
seaside,  yet  not  fully  recovered,  for  his  health  had  been  so 
much  impaired  by  the  Indian  climate,  the  hardships  of  cam- 
paigning and  malarial  fever,  that  the  nervous  shock  occa- 
sioned by  his  accident  had  well-nigh  finished  him. 

Olive  and  he  had  no  need  to  contrive  stolen  interviews. 
The  man  of  the  house  spent  much  of  his  time  in  London  ; 
and  Mrs.  Marsh,  a  late  riser,  was  seldom  seen  by  her  guests 
before  noon. 

"  I  must  leave  you  to  entertain  Captain  Locksley  in  the 
mornings,  dear,"  she  had  said  to  Olive  before  his  coming. 

Olive  made  no  objection  to  this  arrangement — and  she  did 
not  think  Charlie  would. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


315 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

CAPTAIN  LOCKSLEy's  CONFESSION. 

The  next  morning  Captain  Locksley  and  Miss  Lincoln 
took  a  walk  through  the  grounds.  At  first  neither  had  much 
to  say,  for  their  thoughts  were  busy  and  their  hearts  full. 
Charlie  led  the  way  to  their  old  trysting-place  and  invited 
her  to  sit  down  on  a  rustic  bench  under  the  wide-spreading 
branches  of  a  noble  chestnut  tree. 

"  You  want  to  hear  my  confession,  I  suppose  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Call  it  what  you  like.  I  am  dying  to  know  why  you  went 
so  mysteriously  away,  leaving  us  all  in  the  belief  that  you  were 
dead.  Perhaps  you  can  justify  it,  but  in  the  absence  of 
explanation  it  seems  very  strange,  and,  as  regards  your 
mother,  cruel." 

"  Ah,  yes,  my  poor  mother !  When  I  think  of  her — how- 
ever, you  shall  know  all,  and  then  you  can  judge  how  far  I 
am  to  blame.  Fortunately,  I  can  tell  you  without  breaking 
my  word,  for  Lillywhite  has  divined,  and  told  me,  what  I 
had  promised  not  to  reveal." 

"  You  are  talking  in  riddles." 

"  Wait  a  minute.  I  must  begin  at  the  beginning.  We 
quarrelled  at  Whitebeach  because  my  lips  were  sealed  as  to 
the  cause  of  my  refusal  to  become  one  of  your  mother's  trus- 
tees." 

"Don't  say  we  quarrelled.  Say,  rather,  that  I  was  unkind. 
I  should  have  trusted  you.  You  said  you  could  not  tell  with- 
out breaking  your  word." 

"  I  had  been  entrapped  into  giving  my  word.  All  the 
same,  a  man's  word  should  be  sacred.  What  I  promised  not 
to  reveal  was,  that  under  great  stress,  and  urged  by  my 
mother,  my  father  used  your  mother's  trust  money  to  make 
good  my  brother  Jack's  embezzlements  at  Liverpool,  and 
save  him  from  prosecution  and  penal  servitude."  And  then 
Charlie  told  her  all  the  reader  knows,  touching  lightly  on  his 
father's  fault,  and  laying  perhaps  exaggerated  emphasis  on 


3 1 6  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

the  efforts  his  father  had  made  to  repair  the  wrong  he  had 
done, 

Olive  did  not  deem  the  fault  very  heinous. 

"  I  am  sure  your  father  meant  honestly,"  she  said.  "  I 
still  believe  he  was  one  of  the  best  men  I  ever  knew  ;  if  he 
had  lived  all  had  been  well ;  and  but  for  that  unfortunate 
landing  on  the  Spanish  Main  the  money  would  have  been 
amply  secured.  I  don't  think  a  bit  worse  of  him,  Charlie. 
But  why,  after  his  death,  didn't  your  mother  and  Edward 
tell  us  all  ?  I  am  sure  my  mother  would  have  kept  the  secret 
and  given  them  time  to  pay  the  money." 

"  That  is  what  I  urged  them  to  do.  I  don't  want  to  speak 
ill  of  my  mother.  Nobody  could  have  a  better  mother,  and 
she  had  many  noble  qualities.  But  she  was  proud,  and  set 
what  she  called  the  honor  and  credit  of  the  family  above 
every  other  consideration.  .  .  .  Well,  as  I  was  saying  just 
now,  I  had  a  second  time  refused  to  accept  the  trustee- 
ship, unless  your  mother  were  told  how  matters  stood  ;  then, 
after  another  quarrel,  Ned  climbed  down  ;  we  became  friends 
again  and  went  out  for  the  sail  in  which  you  were  to  have 
borne  us  company.  After  a  while  the  subject  was  renewed, 
and  Ned  did  his  utmost  to  persuade  me  to  fall  in  with  his 
views.  It  was  a  great  deal  easier  to  withstand  his  arguments 
than  my  mother's  entreaties.  I  gave  him  a  flat  refusal. 
Then  he  said  unpleasant  things ;  we  both  grew  very  angry, 
and  he  threatened  to  throw  me  out  of  the  boat.  I  simply 
laughed  and  dared  him  to  try.  This  made  him  still  more 
angry,  and  he  said  something  about  you " 

"What?  Don't  keep  anything  back,  please,"  said  Olive, 
seeing  that  he  hesitated. 

"  He  said  he  could  see  what  I  \vas  up  to — charged  me 
with  intending  to  curry  favor  with  you  and  your  mother  by 
telling  what  I  had  promised  to  keep  secret,  '  as  if  Olive 
would  have  anything  to  do  with  the  son  of  the  man  who  had 
defrauded  her  mother.'  This  maddened  me  almost  past 
bearing,  and  I  told  him,  among  other  things,  that  if  he  were 
not  my  brother  I  would  serve  him  as  he  had  threatened  to 
serve  me." 

"  After  that  he  shut  up,  and  for  nearly  an  hour,  neither  of 
us  said  a  word.  Then  he  came  the  old  dodge,  climbed  down, 
said  how  sorry  he  was  for  losing  his  temper  and  asked  my 
pardon.     He  had  been  so  sorely  tried.     Mother  was  so  mas- 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  317 

terful.  If  his  advice  had  been  taken,  things  would  not  have 
come  to  such  a  pass.  For  his  own  part,  he  did  not  care  a 
great  deal  whether  the  whole  thing  came  out  or  not :  but  he 
should  like  to  keep  father's  memory  free  from  reproach,  and 
so  forth.  This  touched  me,  and  I  said,  '  All  right,  Ned,  let 
bygones  be  bygones,'  and  we  talked  the  whole  horrid  thing 
over  again,  discussed  the  expediency  of  making  a  confidant 
of  your  mother,  whether  our  mother  liked  it  or  not,  without, 
however,  coming  to  any  definite  conclusion. 

"  By  this  time  it  was  very  hot,  and  as  the  wind  had  fallen, 
and  the  water  was  smooth,  I  proposed  a  swim.  Ned  said  he 
would  rather  not  just  then;  also,  that  it  would  not  be  wise 
for  both  of  us  to  leave  the  boat,  but  if  I  liked  he  would  take 
care  of  it  while  I  bathed.  To  this  I  agreed,  and  while  I  un- 
dressed he  lowered  the  mainsail. 

"  The  water  was  like  the  day,  warm,  and  the  swim  was  en- 
joyable— for  a  while.  Sometimes  I  would  go  ahead  as  fast 
as  I  could,  then,  when  I  got  out  of  breath,  float  lazily  on  the 
rippling  sea,  looking  up  into  the  blue  sky  and  thinking  of 
you.  I  had  been  in  the  water  perhaps  half  an  hour  when  the 
wind  began  to  rise,  and  it  struck  me  that  I  had  better  be 
making  for  the  boat.  Treading  water,  I  looked  round,  and 
to  my  horror  saw  that  she  was  sailing  away  from  me.  With 
a  great  shout  I  swam  after  her  as  hard  as  I  could.  I  shouted 
again  and  again,  frantically,  desperately.  Ned  must  both 
have  heard  and  seen  me — I  could  see  him — but  the  more  I 
shouted  the  faster  the  boat  seemed  to  go.  Still  I  struggled 
on  until  utterly  exhausted  I  was  forced  to  turn  on  my  back 
and  let  wind  and  waves  take  me  whither  they  would.  By 
this  time  the  boat  was  a  mere  speck,  and  as  I  could  not  see 
land,  I  had  no  idea  in  what  direction  I  was  drifting. 

"  What  I  felt  just  then  words  cannot  tell.  Ned's  cruel 
desertion  cut  me  to  the  soul.  He  had  left  me  to  perish,  hop- 
ing I  should  perish.  It  would  have  been  more  merciful  and 
less  base  if  he  had  stabbed  me  to  the  heart  or  blown  out  my 
brains.  I  called  to  him  again,  though  I  knew  he  would  not 
hear ;  I  called  to  you  though  I  knew  you  could  not  help." 

"  I  heard  you,"  said  Olive. 

"  You  heard  me  !     But  how  ?  " 

Olive  told  him,  and  Charlie,  taking  her  hand,  continued 
his  story. 

"  All  the  same  I  was  determined  not  to  give  in  :  for  though 


3l8  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

I  could  only  swim  a  few  strokes  now  and  then,  and  getting 
back  to  land  was  quite  out  of  the  question,  there  was  always 
the  off  chance  of  my  being  picked  up  by  a  home-returning 
fishing  smack  or  a  passing  ship,  I  saw  several  in  the  dis- 
tance, but  all  were  too  far  away  either  to  see  me  or  hear  a 
hail.  After  a  while  I  fell  in  with  a  broken  oar.  It  saved 
my  life.  Without  it  I  must  have  gone  under.  Thus  I  drifted 
about  for  hours,  growing  ever  more  exhausted  and  less  hope- 
ful, my  eyes  so  sore  with  the  salt  water  that  I  could  hardly 
see ;  and  worse  still,  my  mind  began  to  wander.  I  saw 
strange  things,  and  it  was  only  with  a  great  effort  that  I 
could  realize  where  I  was  and  what  had  happened.  Yet  I 
knew  that  the  end  could  not  be  far  off.  But  it  did  not 
trouble  me.     Exhaustion  had  conquered  fear. 

"  How  long  this  went  on  I  cannot  tell.  All  I  know  is  that 
I  was  roused  from  my  apathy  by  the  sound  of  voices.  Clear- 
ing my  eyes  from  the  water  I  looked  up  and  saw,  looming 
above  me,  what  looked  like  the  hull  of  a  big  ship.  The  sight 
rekindled  my  love  of  life.  But  when  I  tried  to  answer  the 
shouts  my  voice  gave  forth  no  sound,  I  could  only  wave  one 
of  my  arms.  Then  the  people  on  the  ship  hove  to,  lowered 
the  boat  and  took  me  on  board.  It  was  hours  before  I  could 
give  an  account  of  myself.  I  told  them — well,  not  the  whole 
truth — merely  that  while  I  bathed  my  boat  drifted  away,  and 
being  unable  to  overtake  her  I  drifted  away  too.  I  gave 
myself  the  first  name  that  came  into  my  head — Locksley — • 
probably  because  a  few  days  previously  I  had  been  reading 
Tennyson's  Locksley  Hall.     And  it  seemed  appropriate  : — 

'"  Howsoever  these  things  be,  a  long  farewell  to  Locksley  Hall, 
Now  for  me  the  woods  may  wither,  now  for  me  the  roof  tree  fall, 
Comes  a  vapor  from  the  margin,  blackening  over  heath  and  holt, 
Cramming  all  the  blast  before  it,  in  its  breast  a  thunderbolt. 
Let  it  fall  on  Locksley  Hall,  with  rain  or  hail  or  fire  or  snow  ; 
For  the  mighty  wind  arises,  roaring  seaward,  and  I  go.' 

"  I  had  already  resolved  to  go  and  not  return  to  the  old 
place  until  I  had  made  either  a  fortune  or  a  name.  What 
else  was  there  for  me  to  do  !  My  sweetheart  had  cast  me 
off." 

Tears  sprang  into  Olive's  eyes. 

"  Oh,  don't  say  that,  Charlie,"  she  exclaimed,  reproach- 
fully. 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 


319 


"  At  any  rate,  she  said  so,  and  I  thought  so.  My  mother 
had  threatened  to  disown  me  because  I  refused  to  do  a  dis- 
honorable action  at  her  bidding  ;  my  brother  had  left  me  to 
die  a  cruel  and  lingering  death.  That  was  the  worst.  If  I 
returned  I  should  have  to  tell  the  story  of  his  infamy,  as, 
albeit  for  my  mother's  sake,  and  the  credit  of  the  family,  I 
was  willing  to  keep  silence,  I  would  not  then,  nor  would  I 
now,  tell  a  single  lie  to  shield  Ned  from  the  disgrace  he  so 
richly  merits.     He  is  not  worth  it. 

"  The  ship  that  saved  me  was  a  brig,  bound  from  Waterford 
for  the  Thames  ;  the  master,  a  warm-hearted  Irishman,  placed 
his  wardrobe  at  my  disposal,  and  I  promised,  after  we  reached 
London,  to  pay  him  for  what  I  took.  When  I  landed  I  went 
straight  to  the  Tower,  enlisted  in  a  regiment  on  the  roster 
for  India,  and  paid  my  debt  with  the  bounty. 

"  I  had  always  desired  to  be  a  soldier,  as  you  know,  and  I 
vowed  to  myself  that  I  would  either  make  my  mark  or  lose 
my  life.  I  think  I  may  say  that  I  have  done  the  one — in  a 
small  way — and  I  have  come  very  near  to  doing  the  other 
oftener  than  I  can  remember. 

"  And  now,  Olive,  I  think  you  know  all.  You  have  already 
heard  how  I  got  promoted  and  won  the  Cross,  and  a  great 
deal  of  what  befell  me  in  India.  I  could  easily  have  avoided 
coming  into  this  neighborhood  if  I  had  chosen ;  but  I 
yearned  with  an  unspeakable  longing  to  see  the  old  place 
again,  and  learn  what  was  become  of  you  and  how  it  fared 
with  my  mother  and  Ned.  I  had  no  fear  of  being  recognized  ; 
and,  but  for  Lillywhite's  communication,  and  the  song,  and 
my  spectacles  falling  off  in  the  run,  even  you  would  not  have 
recognized  me,  though  I  meant  to  make  myself  known  to 
you  and  Lillywhite  and  Ned,  and  my  mother — if  she  had 
lived." 

"  To  nobody  else  .''  " 

"  Nobody,  except  Revel ;  he  is  my  closest  friend.  You 
see  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  my  disappearance  and 
change  of  name  without  telling  the  story  of  the  broken  trust 
and  Ned's  treachery.  And  I  shall  retain  the  name  of  my 
adoption.  It  is  the  name  by  which  I  am  known  in  the 
service." 

"  And  have  made  illustrious.  I  think  you  are  quite  right. 
But  there  is  one  thing  I  cannot  understand — Edward's  in- 
famous conduct.     What  were  his  motives  ?  " 


320 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"  Greed,  jealousy,  and  revenge  ;  and,  I  daresay,  dread  of 
the  disclosures  which  persistence  in  my  refusal  to  become 
your  mother's  trustee  would  have  rendered  inevitable." 

"  Still,  I  don't  quite  see " 

"  He  had  much  to  gain  by  my  death.  It  would  bring  him 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  from  the  policy  on  our  joint  lives, 
give  him  the  whole  of  the  business,  the  residue  of  my  father's 
estate,  and  control  over  my  mother's  fortune.  Brothers 
though  we  were,  we  had  never  been  sympathetic.  He  was 
in  love  with  you,  and  had  discovered  that  you  loved  me." 

"  How  t  " 

"  He  opened  one  of  the  letters  you  wrote  me  from  Geneva. 
Lillywhite  as  good  as  saw  him  do  it ;  he  has  the  envelope 
still  which  Ned  opened  and  softened,  and  then  reclosed.  I 
wish  Lillywhite  had  told  me  at  the  time  ;  but  the  old  fellow 
cannot  part  with  a  secret  without  a  pang.  Yes ;  Ned  had  a 
good  many  reasons  for  wanting  to  get  rid  of  me." 

"  Did  he  get  the  insurance  money .-'  " 

"  Of  course.  It  was  with  the  insurance  money  that  he 
reinstated  the  broken  trust." 

"  But  won't  that  be  bad  for  you,  Charlie  ?  Won't  it  look 
as  if  you  were  implicated  in  the  fraud." 

"  I  doubt  whether  it  was  a  fraud.  Anyhow  I  am  not  im- 
plicated. Ned  doubtless  believes  that  I  am  dead  ;  and  I  was 
under  no  obligation  to  advise  the  company  that  I  was  alive. 
To  tell  the  truth,  the  fact  that  Ned  would  get  the  insurance 
money  did  not  occur  to  me  till  after  I  had  enlisted  ;  and  then 
I  reflected  that  if  I  died  in  India  the  company  would  only 
have  paid  a  little  too  soon,  and  that  if  I  lived  to  come  back 
I  could  compel  Edward  to  make  restitution." 

"  And  that  you  will  do  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  Also  to  account  for  my  share  in  my  father's 
and  mother's  estates,  and  my  share  of  the  profits  and  good- 
will of  the  business.  He  shall  pay  up  to  the  last  penny. 
That  will  punish  him  almost  as  much  as  exposure  would." 

"  And  when  ?  " 

"  Not  just  now.  Probably  on  my  return  from  Guildford. 
It  will  be  a  trying  interview,  and  I  don't  feel  quite  up  to  the 
mark  yet." 

"  That's   true Was  it  quite   kind,  do  you  think 

not  to  make  yourself  known  and  tell  me  all  this  sooner — 
when  we  met  at  All  Hallows  ?" 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


321 


"  I  had  no  opportunity." 

"  You  could  have  written." 

"  That  might  have  been  dangerous,  arid  I  had  another 
reason  for  keeping  my  incognito.  I  fell  in  love  with  you 
over  again." 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  had  you  ceased  to  love  me  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly.  All  the  same,  you  must  remember  that  I 
thought  you  had  cast  me  off,  and  six  years'  absence,  you 
know " 

"  That  means  you  had  forgotten  me." 

"  Not   at   all,  and   I   loved   you   again,    darling,    at   first 
sight." 
.  "  Yet  you  did  not  make  yourself  known." 

*'  Well,  do  you  know  (smiling),  I  wanted  to  see  whether 
Captain  Locksley  could  not  win  the  heart  which  had  once 
been  given  to  Charlie  Prince.     Did  I  succeed  ?  " 

"  How  dare  you  ask  such  a  question  ?  It  is  really  too  bad 
of  you,"  exclaimed  Olive,  with  well-feigned  indignation. 

"  That  is  no  answer  to  my  question.  Tell  me,  now, 
wouldn't  the  captain  have  had  a  chance,  even  though  you 
had  not  discovered  that  he  bore  another  name  ?  " 

"  I  shall  not  tell  you." 

"  Anyhow,  you  love  me  still.  I  have  been  true  to  you  all 
these  years,  though  you  did  cast  me  off." 

"  Cruel." 

"  Then  you  did  not  cast  me  off.  So  we  are  as  we  were, 
only  a  little  more  so.  We  had  agreed  to  be  engaged  when 
you  were  old  enough,  and  your  mother  gave  her  consent. 
You  are  old  enough  now,  and  your  own  mistress.  Therefore 
we  are  really  engaged,  and  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  fix  the 
day,"  said  Charlie,  laughing  pleasantly. 

Olive  smiled  and  gave  him  her  hand. 

"  I  doubt  whether  your  logic  is  quite  correct ;  "  she  said 
archly,  "  but  after  all  you  have  gone  through,  the  perils  you 
have  survived  and  the  honors  you  have  won,  I  have  not  the 
heart  to  controvert  your  arguments.  I  could  though  an  I 
would." 

"  Of  course  you  could — you  can  do  anything  you  like  with 
me — but  you  won't.  That  is  enough  for  me.  ^^'e  are  en- 
gaged, and  now  about  the  day  ?  " 

Olive's  countenance  fell.  For  the  last  half  hour  she  had 
been  oblivious  of  her  promise,  her  vow,  the    cause — every- 

21 


322 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


thing  but  her  lover — and  now  like  Macduff's  ghost  at  the 
banquet  they  rose  up  unbidden  (in  her  mind)  and  struck  ter- 
ror to  her  heart. 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  it  is  impossible  :  it  cannot  be,"  she  cried. 

"  Cannot  be  !     Why  ?  " 

"  Because  of  my  vow,"  and  then  she  told  him  how  it  came 
to  be  made. 

"  Is  that  all  ?  I  was  afraid  you  had  promised  to  marry 
some  other  fellow,"  observed  Charlie  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 
"  Don't  you  see  that  as  the  vow  was  made  in  ignorance  of  a 
material  fact  it  is  not  binding.  If  you  had  known  I  was 
alive  it  would  not  have  been  made." 

"  Perhaps  not.  All  the  same — didn't  you  say  just  nov/  that 
a  man  should  hold  his  word  sacred,  though  he  may  have 
been  entrapped  into  giving  it ;  and  ought  not  a  woman's  vow 
to  be  as  sacred  as  a  man's  promise  t  " 

"  The  cases  are  not  analogous.  My  promise  concerned  a 
supposed  secret,  which  I  kept  until  it  was  imparted  to  me  by 
a  third  person.  Yours  concerned  your  future  conduct ;  and 
in  view  of  circumstances  which  have  since  come  to  light,  you 
may  disregard  it  with  a  safe  conscience." 

"  I  cannot  quite  see  it  in  that  light.  It  was  essentially  a 
promise  to  do  my  duty  to  my  country  in  her  present  trouble. 
Suppose  our  positions  were  reversed.  Wouldn't  you  come 
back  to  England  and  fight  for  her,  and,  if  need  were,  die  for 
her?" 

"  Women  don't  fight." 

"  They  can  help  and  encourage  the  men  who  do,  nurse  the 
wounded,  and  comfort  those  whom  war  has  bereft  of  sons, 

fathers,  and  husbands I  love  you  none   the   less, 

Charlie,  because  I  love  my  country  and  the  great  cause  which 
is  at  stake.  You  have  borne  yourself  so  bravely  and  acted 
so  nobly  that  I  love  you  more  than  I  did  seven  years  ago. 
That  was  a  girl's  love,  this  is  a  woman's  love.  But  I  cannot, 
cannot  forget  that  I  am  an  American." 

"  I  don't  ask  you  to  forget  it.  I  should  be  very  sorry. 
Do  you  know,  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  I  should — if 
the  rules  of  the  service  permitted — like  to  enter  the  Federal 
Army  for  a  v/hile.  It  would  be  a  useful  experience,  and  the 
cause  is  good." 

"  Ah,  then  !  "  exclaimed  Olive,  with  glistening  eyes. 

"  But  you  have  not  named  the  day." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  323 

"  Oh,  don't  ask  me  now,  dear." 

"  Well,  think  it  over.  You  don't  propose  to  return  to 
America  immediately  ?  " 

"  No,  not  immediately,"  returned  Olive,  with  some  hesi- 
tation. 

The  subject  was  renewed  on  the  next  day  and  the  day 
after  that,  Charlie  beseeching  and  arguing,  and  trying  hard 
to  gain  his  point,  she  resisting,  yet  so  faintheartedly  withal 
that  he  felt  sure  she  would  end  by  yielding. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  week  Mr.  Marsh  came  from  Lon- 
don, bringing  with  him  several  visitors,  whose  presence  in 
the  house  put  an  end  to  the  lovers'  private  talks  :  and  a  few 
days  later  Charlie  was  obliged  to  leave  for  Guildford. 

"  I  shall  write,"  whispered  Olive  as  he  was  going  away. 

"  So  shall  I,  and  I  shall  be  back  in  a  fortnight." 

Before  the  fortnight  came  to  an  end  Olive  had  letters  from 
America.  One  of  them  was  addressed  in  the  well-known 
handwriting  of  Cousin  Hosea.  Conscious  of  her  backsliding 
she  opened  the  letter  in  fear  and  trembling.  But  Mr.  Old- 
bury  neither  wrote  words  of  direct  reproach,  nor  referred 
to  the  prolongation  of  her  stay  in  England.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  dwelt  at  length  on  the  prospect  of  the  war  and  the 
temper  of  the  country,  of  the  unflinching  determination  to 
restore  the  union,  and  of  the  strenuous  and  unexampled  ef- 
forts that,  to  this  end,  were  being  put  forth  ;_  of  the  devoted 
men  who  had  died  on  the  field  of  battle  ;  of  delicate  young 
women,  who  were  doing  the  work  of  nurses  in  military  hos- 
pitals and  following  in  the  wake  of  armies  to  tend  the 
wounded  and  the  sick.  The  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  its  prohibition  in  the  territories  and  the  offer  of 
Congress  to  compensate  any  state  which  should  abolish 
slaver}^  proved  the  nation's  resolve  to  put  away  the  sin  which 
had  drawn  upon  it  God's  anger  and  the  reprobation  of  man- 
kind. But  in  all  this  there  was  no  bitterness ;  he  even 
spoke  tenderly  of  the  rebels  as  "  our  erring  brethren  who  are 
fighting  nobly  in  a  bad  cause." 

The  letter  concluded  thus  :  "  I  do  not  envy  the  feelings  of 
those  Americans  who  are  absent  from  their  country  in  the 
hour  of  her  agony,  who,  as  they  are  taking  no  part  in  the 
battle  will  have  no  share  in  the  victory  (a  victory  for  the 
South  as  well  as  the  North),  and  who,  to  the  end  of  their 
days,  will  be  haunted  by  the   sense  of  having  watched   from 


324 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


afar,  with  cold  hearts  and  folded  hands,  the  most  momentous 
struggle  for  human  freedom  of  our  time." 

Olive  read  the  letter  in  her  own  room.  After  reading  it 
she  sat  a  whole  hour,  motionless  and  in  deep  thought.  Then 
she  knelt  down.  When  she  rose  from  her  knees  her  resolu- 
tion was  taken.  She  wrote  the  same  day  to  Liverpool,  en- 
gaging a  passage  to  New  York  by  the  next  Cunard  steamer. 
The  following  day  she  made  her  preparations,  and  on  the 
day  of  her  departure,  she  sent  Cousin  Hosea's  letter  to  Char- 
lie, inclosing  therewith  a  few  lines  from  herself. 

"  My  hesitation  is  at  an  end,"  she  wrote.  "  By  the  time  you 
receive  this  I  shall  be  gone.  My  cousin's  letter  will  inform 
you  why  I  have  come  to  this  sudden  resolve.  I  hurry  away 
for  fear  lest,  if  I  see  you  again  I  may  be  persuaded  to  relent. 
I  am  sure  you  will  love  me  none  the  less  because  I  love  my 
country  too  well  to  desert  her  in  her  hour  of  need.  When 
the  war  is  over  and  the  victory  won  we  may  meet  again — if 
you  keep  in  the  same  mind.  Until  then,  dear  Charlie,  fare- 
well, though  I  write  the  word  with  a  faltering  hand  and  a 
breaking  heart. — Olive." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


325 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

EDWARD    SURRENDERS. 

Early  morning.  Edward  Prince  in  his  office  discussing 
with  Mr.  Simpson,  his  managing  clerk,  the  contents  of  the 
freshly  opened  letters  on  his  desk,  pretty  much  as  his  father 
discussed  business  matters  with  Mr.  Lillywhite  in  days  gone 
by. 

But,  for  the  most  part,  the  nature  of  the  business  under 
discussion  differed  as  widely  from  the  business  which  the 
late  Mr.  Prince  was  wont  to  talk  over  with  the  old  clerk,  as 
the  latter  differed  in  personal  appearance  from  his  successor. 
Mr.  Simpson  was  a  dapper  little  gentleman  with  small  features, 
a  white  face  and  piercing  black  eyes ;  his  clothes,  of  the 
newest  cut,  fitted  him  to  perfection,  his  hair  was  parted  in  the 
middle,  his  whiskers  were  beautifully  curled,  and  he  sported 
a  flower  in  his  buttonhole. 

"  Here's  Walker  wants  his  note  renewed  for  three  months, 
Mr.  Simpson,  what  do  you  think,  shall  we  do  it  ?  "  said 
Edward  taking  up  a  letter. 

"  The  security  is  pretty  fair  for  a  hundred  and  fifty,  I  think 
— a  bill  of  sale  on  his  stock,  and  a  policy  of  insurance  for 
five  hundred,  on  which  twenty  annual  premiums  have  been 
paid." 

"  Good  !  But  he  must  plank  something  down — the  interest 
in  advance  and  legal  expenses." 

"  He'll  do  that — cannot  help  himself.  I  shall  insist  on  fif- 
teen pounds." 

"  That  will  do.  Forty  per  cent,  isn't  bad  interest  on  a 
practically  safe  investment.  Now,  about  Jones.  He  asks  for 
a  thousand  pounds  and  wants  the  money  to-morrow,  secured 
by  an  equitable  mortgage  on  his  house  and  land.  The 
security  is  perfect,  so  good,  indeed,  that  I  am  surprised  he 
does  not  go  to  the  bank." 

"His  account  is  heavily  overdrawn.     He  is  afraid  the  bank 


326  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

would  want  to  keep  the  deeds  as  cover  for  the  present  ad- 
vance." 

"  Then  he  is  in  a  corner  and  squeezable.  Say  that  he  can 
have  the  money  for  four  months,  certain  at  one  per  cent,  per 
month,  and  you  can  run  him  up  a  pretty  stiff  bill  for  expenses." 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir.  That  is  easily  done.  What  about  Symonds  ? 
He  was  here  just  before  you  came,  pleading  for  a  little  further 
delay,  and  talking  about  his  wife  and  children." 

"  I  have  granted  him  delays  enough,  and  I  won't  stand  any 
nonsense.  Write  him  that  if  he  does  not  pay  within  ten  days 
Ave  shall  take  proceedings.  There  is  somebody  at  the  door ; 
just  see." 

Simpson  went  to  the  door,  and  took  from  a  young  clerk  a 
slip  of  paper  on  which  was  written  :  "  Captain  Locksley 
would  like  to  see  Mr.  Prince." 

"  Captain  Locksley  !  What  can  he  want  ?  "  said  Edward, 
glancing  at  the  paper. 

"  Either  advice  or  a  loan,  I  should  say,"  returned  Simpson 
drily. 

"  On  the  security  of  his  commission,  I  suppose.  He  has 
nothing  else.    Was  Gubbins  served  with  that  writ  yesterday  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Good  !  Tell  the  gentleman  I  am  disengaged,  and  shall  be 
glad  to  see  him." 

Whereupon,  exit  Mr,  Simpson  and  enter  Captain  Locksley, 
with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  and  his  tinted  spectacles  on  his 
nose. 

"  Good-morning,  captain  ;  glad  to  see  you  :  pray  sit  down," 
said  Edward  offering  his  hand. 

Locksley  responded  with  a  formal  bow,  and  sat  down, 
looking  hard  the  while  at  his  brother.  The  latter,  who  hated 
being  stared  at,  asked  his  visitor  what  he  could  do  for  him, 
to  which  the  captain  answered  nothing. 

"  Hang  the  fellow,  he  must  be  deaf,"  thought  Edward. 

"  What  can  I  have  the  pleasure  of  doing  for  you.  Captain 
Locksley  ?  "  he  repeated. 

"  Don't  you  know  me,  Ned  ?  "  said  Charlie  removing  his 
spectacles. 

Edward's  face  blanched  to  the  pallor  of  death,  he  fell  back 
in  his  chair  as  if  he  had  been  shot,  convulsively  gripping  the 
arms  of  it  with  both  his  hands. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  327 

After  thrice  essaying  to  speak,  without  producing  any- 
sound  save  a  hoarse  gurgle,  he  gasped  : 

"  You  are  not  Charlie  ?  " 

"  I  am  nobody  else.    You  thought  you  had  drowned  me  ?  " 

"  I — I  protest "  exclaimed  Edward,  wiping  the  sweat 

from  his  brow. 

"  Don't !  I  shouldn't  believe  you.  You  wanted  me  to  die 
and  left  me  to  perish." 

"  I  assure  you,  Charlie,  I  had  no  idea " 

"  Come,  Ned,  don't  add  lying  to  your  other  sins.  Rather 
thank  God  that  though  you  tried  to  commit  murder  you  did  not 
succeed.  You  treacherously  sailed  away  and  left  me  to 
drown ;  and  but  for  a  friendly  oar  which  kept  me  afloat,  and 
a  passing  ship  which  picked  me  up,  your  object  would  have 
been  accomplished.  I  enlisted  and  went  to  India,  because  if 
I  had  come  back  I  should  have  been  constrained  to  make 
painful  explanations,  which,  for  my  mother's  sake — not  yours 
— I  did  not  want  to  do." 

"  But  you  call  yourself  Locksley.  What  evidence  is  there 
to  show  that  you  are  Charles  Prince  ?  "  asked  Edward,  mak- 
ing a  great  effort  to  resume  his  ordinary  manner. 

"  Do  you  doubt  it.-*  "  demanded  Charlie  indignantly.  "  If 
that  is  the  line  you  are  going  to  take — let  me  see  "  (rising 
from  his  chair),  "  the  Mercury  comes  out  on  Saturdays.  I 
shall  see  the  editor  at  once,  and  by  this  time  to-morrow  all 
Peele  will  know " 

"  No,  no,  for  heaven's  sake  don't  do  anything  rash,"  inter- 
rupted Edward.  "  I  did  not  mean — I  only  suggested  an  ob- 
vious difficulty.  I  don't  deny — I  admit — yes,  I  admit,  that 
you  are  my  brother.  But  the  shock  has  so  upset  me  that  I 
hardly  know  what  I  am  saying.  Does  anybody  else  know  of 
this  1  " 

"Three  persons  know,  but  every  one  of  them — so  long  as 
I  desire  it — will  keep  the  secret  as  religiously  as  I  shall  my- 
self—on certain  conditions.  These  three  are  Lillywhite,  who 
is  now  in  the  general  office  waiting  for  me,  my  good  friend 
and  comrade.  Captain  Revel,  and  Olive  Lincoln." 

"  Olive  Lincoln  !  Good  heavens  !  Does  she  know  ?  You 
told  her  ?  " 

"  Naturally.     We  are  engaged." 

Edward  fell  back  in  his  chair  again,  his  face  pale,  his  lips 
writhing. 


328  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

Charlie  watched  him  pitilessl)-. 

"  But  she  is  gone  to  America,"  said  Edward  at  length. 

"  That  does  not  alter  the  fact.  You  were  jealous  ;  that  is 
one  reason  why  you  tried  to  drown  me.  You  opened  a  letter 
which  you  found  on  my  desk " 

"  I  didn't." 

"  Lillywhite  has  the  envelope  which  you  broke  open  and 
reclosed.     Shall  I  call  him  in  .-*  " 

"  Pray  don't.  Anything  rather  than  that.  You  spoke  of 
conditions — conditions  on  which  you  would  keep  this  matter 
secret." 

"  And  retain  the  name  I  bear.  I  suppose  that  would  serve 
your  purpose,  though,  candidly,  I  don't  propose  to  do  it  out 
of  consideration  for  you — and  it  is  conceivable  that  I  may 
have  to  take  one  or  two  more  persons  into  my  confidence  ; 
but  not  in  this  country." 

"  You  are  very  bitter,  Charlie." 

"  No.     I  am  only  just." 

"  Well,  never  mind  that.     What  are  your  conditions  ?  " 

"  That  you  return  the  fifteen  thousand  pounds  you  received 
from  the  insurance  people." 

"  Impossible.     I  should  have  to  tell  them  everything." 

"  Not  at  all.  You  would  have  to  say  that,  having  ascer- 
tained that,  instead  of  being  drowned,  as  everybody  supposed, 
your  brother  was  picked  up  by  a  passing  ship,  and  left  the 
country  without  communicating  with  his  friends,  you  hasten 
to  repay  them  the  amount  which  you  claimed  and  they  paid 
in  the  belief  that  he  was  dead.  They  will  be  too  glad  to  get 
back  the  money  to  ask  questions." 

"  It  will  look  very  bad." 

"  If  you  wait  until  they  find  it  out  and  make  a  demand  it 
will.  But  if  you  make  the  offer  spontaneously  it  will  look 
rather  well." 

"  But  they  will  ask  for  interest." 

"Why  not?  You  have  had  the  use  of  the  money,  and 
turned  it  to  good  account,  too." 

"  No,  I  haven't.  It  went  to  reinstate  Mrs.  Lincoln's  trust 
fund." 

"  Well,  you  have  had  the  use  of  the  money  Jack  paid.  It 
comes  to  the  same  thing." 

"  Six  years'  interest !  That  will  make  a  total  of  nearly 
twenty  thousand  pounds." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


329 


"  I  don't  care,  though  it  makes  a  total  of  thirty  thousand. 
Will  you  do  it,  or  shall  I  communicate  with  the  company?  " 

"  I  suppose  I  must,"  groaned  Edward.     "  What  else  ?  " 

"  I  want  my  share  of  my  father's  and  mother's  estates  ;  and 
Jack  must  have  his  share " 

"  He  is  rich.  He  doesn't  want  it ;  he  has  written  to  say 
so.     I  can  show  you  the  letter." 

"  In  that  case  we  shall  have  to  divide  equally.  I  also  want 
an  account  of  my  share  of  the  profits  of  the  office  since  I 
went  away.  Our  partnership  has  never  been  dissolved,  re- 
member." 

"  But  I  have  done  all  the  work  ;  you  have  done  nothing." 

"  Whose  fault  is  that  ?  However,  though  I  insist  on  hav- 
ing all  that  is  due  to  me  I  want  to  be  scrupulously  fair.  You 
can  debit  the  account  with  the  value  of  my  personal  services 
for  the  last  six  years — say  three  thousand  pounds.  That  will 
be  about  fair,  I  think  ?  " 

Edward  nodded  assent,  and  a  faint  smile  flickered  over  his 
face.  It  was  three  thousand  pounds  saved,  as  it  were  out  of 
the  fire.     Charlie  was  less  exacting  than  he  had  feared. 

"  On  the  other  hand,"  resumed  Charlie,  "  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  my  interest  in  the  practice,  which  is  quite  as 
much." 

"  Nothing  of  the  sort.  I  deny  it — I  protest — it  is  not 
worth  half  three  thousand  pounds." 

"  I  think  it  is.  Shall  we  have  it  put  to  arbitration  ?  I  am 
quite  agreeable." 

"  How  can  we  without  disclosing  the  secret  ?  You  have 
the  whip  hand  now.     Have  your  own  way." 

"  I  will  have  what  is  right,  Ned ;  neither  more  nor  less. 
And  this  is  right.  And  there  is  another  matter.  You  must 
do  something  for  Lillywhite — undertake  to  allow  him  a  hun- 
dred a  year  as  long  as  he  lives,  or  buy  him  an  annuity." 

"  Hang  Lillywhite  !  This  is  clean  ruin,"  exclaimed  Edward 
passionately.  "  It  will  take  every  shilling  I  have  got.  Don't 
be  so  hard  on  me,  Charlie." 

"  Don't  you  be  so  greedy,  Ned.  It  won't  take  all  you  have 
got,  or  anything  like  it.  Lillywhite  says  that  what  with 
money-lending  and  one  thing  and  another  you  are  making 
two  or  three  times  as  much  as  we  used  to  make,  and  for  the 
future  you  will  have  all  that  to  yourself.  And  I  don't  ask 
for  an  immediate   settlement.     You  need  not   approach  the 


33 o  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

^gis  people  for  a  month,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  will  be 
open  to  an  arrangement.  As  for  myself,  all  I  ask  is  five  hun- 
dred pounds  down  and  the  rest  by  instalments." 

"  Let  me  have  a  little  time  to  consider." 

"  Not  an  hour.  Why  should  a  solvent  man  have  time  to 
consider  whether  he  will  pay  his  debts  .-'  Anyhow,  my  offer 
will  not  be  repeated.  If  you  refuse  I  shall  run  up  to  town 
and  place  myself  in  the  hands  of  Topper,  Sandboy,  and 
Periwinkle." 

Edward  drew  a  deep  breath  and  bent  his  head. 

"  I  agree,"  he  said,  after  a  moment's  reflection,  "  The 
account  shall  be  prepared.  I  will  settle  with  the  ^gis  a 
month  hence  :  and  bind  myself  to  pay  Lillywhite  a  hundred 
a  year." 

"  When  will  the  accounts  be  ready  ?  " 

"  In  a  week.  My  books  are  well  kept.  If  you  come  here 
this  day  week  at  this  time,  the  accounts  shall  be  ready,  and 
the  money,  and  the  bond." 

"  Good  !  We  may  consider  that  business  as  arranged.  I 
shall  leave  the  details  to  Lillywhite.  He  will  examine  the 
accounts  and  that.     But  there  is  something  else." 

"  Good  Heavens  !     What  ?  " 

"  You  have  neither  expressed  sorrow " 

"  I  am  sorry,  very  sorry." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,  Ned,  very  glad,"  returned 
Charlie,  cordially.  "  It  is  bad  for  brothers  to  be  at  enmity. 
If  we  cannot  be  friends — and  I  fear  we  never  can — at  any 
rate  we  need  not  be  enemies.  You  are  sorry,  and  have 
agreed  to  make  amends,  and  I,  on  my  part,  forgive  you. 
Here  is  my  hand  on  it." 

They  shook  hands,  and  Captain  Locksley  went  his  way. 

For  a  long  time  after  his  brother  was  gone,  Edward 
Prince  sat  with  folded  arms,  sullenly  thinking. 

"  Thirty-three  thousand  pounds  ?  "  he  muttered.  "  Thirty- 
three  thousand  !  I  should  not  get  off  for  a  penny  less  ;  and 
it  may  be  more,  to  say  nothing  of  the  hundred  a  year  to 
Lillywhite.  ...  I  did  not  think  Charlie  had  it  in  him  to 
be  so  hard  and  sharp.  But  a  good  deal  of  that  is  Lillywhite's 
doing — his  revenge,  I  suppose.  I  should  have  kept  him 
on,  and  would  have  done  if  I  had  foreseen — but  who  could 
have  foreseen  ?  .  .  .  Charlie  will  be  well  off,  devilish  well 
off.     He  has  lighted  on  his  feet  again  ;   fellows  who  don't 


THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE.  331 

like  steady  work  generally  do.  He  will  have  fourteen  or 
fifteen  thousand  pounds,  and  Olive  and  her  money — that  is 
the  bitterest  pill  of  all.  He  may  buy  as  many  steps  as  he 
likes,  and  rise  high  in  the  service.  Oh,  he  may  well  afford 
to  forgive  me.  .  .  .  And  I  lose  my  chance  of  standing  for 
the  borough.  I  shall  be  too  poor.  .  .  .  Yes,  I  am  sorry, 
very  sorry — that  he  was  not  drowned." 


332 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

'twixt  love  and  duty. 

On  a  June  morning,  in  the  year  1863,  a  gentleman  wearing 
a  military  uniform,  stepped  out  of  Willard's  Hotel,  \\'ashing- 
ton,  and  after  making  inquiry  of  another  military  gentleman, 
with  an  armless  sleeve,  who  was  loitering  at  the  door,  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  a  certain  hospital,  wended  thitherwards. 

The  day  was  fine,  and  the  streets  were  full  of  life  and 
noise,  and  bustle.  Soldiers  everywhere,  some  in  companies 
and  squadrons,  on  their  way  to  the  front,  or  just  arrived  from 
the  North  or  West  to  reinforce  the  garrison  of  the  Capital  ; 
others,  mostly  recruits,  sauntering  about,  singly  and  in 
groups  ;  orderlies  hurrying  to  and  fro  ;  ammunition  wagons, 
ambulances,  gun  limbers  rolling  sonorously  over  the  pave- 
ment ;  officers  shouting  their  orders,  sabres  clashing,  bayonets 
gleaming,  horses  neighing,  banners  flying,  bugles  blowing, 
and  all  the  "  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war."  Yet 
many — though  they  carried  it  off  bravely — were  under  deejD 
discouragement.  The  Union  cause  was  not  prospering. 
Fredericksburg  and  Chancelloi'sville  had  been  fought  and 
lost,  and  the  fear  of  losing  Washington  was  becoming  greater 
than  the  hope  of  taking  Richmond. 

The  officer  in  question  surveyed  the  scene  with  an  air 
Avhich  was  alternately  critical  and  indifferent.  He  had  seen 
too  much  of  the  stern  realities  of  war  to  be  excited  by  the 
mere  preparations  for  combat.  After  twice  asking  his  way 
he  reached  his  destination,  one  of  the  temporary  frame  hos- 
pitals with  canvas  sides,  so  much  in  vogue  during  the  Civil 
War. 

Passing  within,  the  gentleman  asked  the  dark-skinned 
janitor  whether  Miss  Lincoln  was  in  the  hospital,  and  re- 
ceived an  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

"  1  should  like  to  see  her,"  said  the  stranger. 

"  If  you'll  give  me  your  name,  and  walk  into  the  waiting- 
room  I'll  let  Missy  Lincoln  know  as  you's  dere." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  FEELE. 


ZZl 


"  Take  her  this  card." 

"  Yes,  kernel,"  and  the  darkie  went  off  with  the  card,  which 
bore  this  inscription  : — 

"  Colonel  Paul  Coniston, 

17th  Illinois  Bucktails." 

The  waiting-room  was  a  plainly  furnished  parlor,  with  a 
few  commonplace  engravings  on  the  walls,  and  a  few  com- 
monplace books  on  the  table.  The  "  kernel  "  took  up  one  of 
the  books,  glanced  at  the  title-page  and  laid  it  down  again  ; 
then  paced  about  the  room  impatiently  for  several  minutes, 
then,  turning  a  chair  to  one  of  the  windows,  sat  down  and 
contemplated,  or  seemed  to  contemplate,  the  street.  While 
he  was  thus  occupied  the  door  silently  opened  and  an  eager 
voice  exclaimed : 

"  Oh,  Cousin  Paul,  I  am  so  sorry  to  have  kept  you  waiting, 
but  I  was  with  the  doctors  and  could  not  get  away  sooner." 

Her  visitor  rose  from  his  chair  and  turned  right  about 
face. 

"  Good  heavens  !     You,  Charlie  ;  you,  and  in  that  uniform  ? " 

"  Yes,  it  is  I,  Olive,  and  in  this  uniform.  And  you,  Olive, 
you  are  in  my  arms,"  suiting  the  action  to  the  word  and  kiss- 
ing her  passionately. 

"  But  why  ?  I  can  hardly  believe.  How  has  it  come  to 
pass?   •  The  porter  brought  me  Paul  Coniston's  card." 

"I  wanted  to  surprise  you." 

"  And  you  have  succeeded.  But  how  has  it  come  about  "i 
Tell  me  quickly.     I  am  dying  to  know." 

"  Well  I  have  the  honor  to  be  a  major  in  Paul  Coniston's 
regiment  of  Illinois  Bucktails." 

"  Oh,  this  is  agonizing.  Do  tell  me,  please.  When  did 
you  leave  England .''  How  long  have  you  been  in  our  army? 
How  was  it  managed  ?     Have  you  left  the  Red    Hussars  ?  " 

"  Naturally.  I  could  not  hold  the  Queen's  commission 
and  Abraham  Lincoln's  at  the  same  time." 

"  But  was  not  that  a  great  sacrifice  to  make,  Charlie  ?  " 

"  It  was  all  for  love;  and  what  won't  a  man  do  for  the 
woman  he  loves  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Charlie,  you  make  me  so  happy,"  she  murmured, 
leaning  her  head  on  his  shoulder,  and  looking  up  into  his 
eyes,  "  so  happy," 


334 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


"  Besides,  it  was  not  much  of  a  sacrifice.  Tlie  Red  PIus- 
sars  were  ordered  to  London,  and  even  with  my  accession  of 
fortune  I  could  not  afford  the  life  tliere — without  being  still 
more  beholden  to  Revel  than  I  have  been  and  would  like — 
though  he  is  the  best  fellow  in  the  world." 

"  But  I  am  still  in  the  dark.  How  was  it  ?  Begin  at  the 
beginning,  and  tell  me  everything.     Do,  please." 

"  Well,  when  you  so  cruelly  deserted  me " 

"  Don't  be  unkind,  dear.  I  did  no  more  than  my  duty. 
You  would  have  done  the  same " 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that.  When  you  went  away  I 
was  terribly  disappointed,  and,  for  a  while,  so  angry  that  I 
resolved  to  think  no  more  about  you.  All  the  same,  you  were 
always  in  my  thoughts.  I  found  that  without  you  life  would 
not  be  worth  living :  and,  before  you  had  landed  in  America 
I  had  decided  to  follow  you  thither,  and  do  what  I  knew 
would  please  you  most — fight  for  the  cause  you  love  so  well." 

"  And    are    you  really  going  to  the  front  ?     Think    of  the 

danger,  and  what  will  become  of  me  if "  (shuddering  and 

clinging  closer  to  him). 

Charlie  smiled. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  he  said.  "  I  am  not  through  with  my 
story,  yet.  After  I  had  arranged  matters  with  Ned — he  has 
made  full  restitution — I  got  an  introduction  to  the  American 
minister  and  some  other  people,  wrote  to  Paul  Coniston 
through  the  United  States  War  Ofiice,  and,  after  sending  in 
my  papers,  set  sail  for  New  York,  where  I  arrived  three 
months  ago,  and  where  I  found  a  letter  from  your  cousin, 
saying  that  he  was  empowered  to  offer  me  a  major's  com- 
mission in  his  own  regiment.  I  hope  to  get  transferred  to 
the  cavalry  later  on,  or,  perhaps,  a  place  on  some  general's 
staff." 

"  Three  months  ago  !     And  you  never  let  me  know." 

"  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  tell  you  in  person,  yet  not 
before  I  had  done  something  more  than  put  on  this  uniform." 

"And  what  more  have  you  done,  dear  ?  " 

"  What  I  never  did  before,  fought  in  two  losing  battles. 
However,  that  was  no  fault  of  the  Illinois  fellows,  they  did 
their  duty." 

"  To  think  that  you  were  in  those  terrible  battles,  and  I 
didn't  know  it !  Suppose  you  had  been  killed.  Are  you 
going  back  ?  " 


THE  PKIXCES  OF  PEELE. 


335 


"  Of  course.  I  got  three  days'  leave  with  great  difficulty — 
the  war  is  not  over  by  a  long  way." 

Olive  shuddered  again  and  turned  pale. 

"  Three  days,"  she  cried.  "  But  why  need  you  go  back  at 
all  ?     You  are  not  an  American." 

"  I  am  a  soldier,  and  must  do  my  duty,  Olive.  I  thought 
you  would  be  pleased  at  my  joining  the  Union  Army." 

"  I  am,  I  am  so  pleased  that  I  could  cry  for  joy.  But  when 
I  think  of  the  perils  you  have  passed  through,  and  the  possi- 
ble still  greater  perils  to  come,  my  heart  grows  faint.  .  .  . 
Of  course,  you  must  return  to  the  front.  Better  that  than 
dishonor  ;  and  who  am  I  that  I  should  enjoy  an  immunity 
from  suffering  and  anxiety  in  this  time  of  trial }  How  will  it 
end,  Charlie  ?  These  repeated  defeats  are  very  dishearten- 
ing." 

"  In  the  triumph  of  the  North  and  the  restoration  of  the 
Union." 

"  Do  you  really  think  so  ? " 

"  I  am  sure.  Providence  is  generally  on  the  side  of  the 
biggest  battalions.  We  have  the  biggest  battalions  and  the 
best  equipped,  and,  what  is  of  even  greater  importance  in 
such  a  contest  as  this,  the  sea  power.  For  the  Rebs  fight  so 
superbly  and  are  so  much  better  handled  than  our  fellows, 
that  if  they  had  a  fleet  and  could  keep  their  ports  open,  I 
doubt  whether,  despite  our  greater  numbers,  we  could  con- 
quer them.     I  am  rather  afraid  they  would  conquer  us." 

"  Isn't  it  strange  that  men  should  fight  so  heroically  for  so 
bad  a  cause  ?  " 

"  Well,  do  you  know,  I  have  rather  changed  my  opinion 
about  the  cause.  It  is  true  that  the  South  are  fighting  for 
the  right  to  hold  slaves  ;  but  they  are  also  fighting  for  in- 
dependence. The  rank  and  file  of  their  armies  are  not  slave- 
holders, yet  they  fight  like  demons.  I  had  an  interesting 
talk  the  other  day  with  a  little  rebel  colonel,  whom  we  took 
prisoner.  He  told  me  that  he  never  owned  a  slave,  and  was 
strongly  opposed  to  the  war  from  the  first.  But  when  his 
State  went  out  of  the  Union  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  go  with  it 
and  fight  in  vindication  of  the  right  of  secession.  I  believe 
there  are  a  great  many  of  his  way  of  thinking  ;  and  though 
the  Union  must  be  restored  and  slavery  suppressed,  in  the 
interest  of  both  sections  of  the  countr}',  I  cannot  refuse  the 
Rebs  a  certain  measure  of  sympathy.     Most  of  them  are  as 


336  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

patriotic,  according  to  their  lights,  as  you  Northerners  are 
according  to  yours.  I  saw  those  ragged  heroes — some  of 
them  armed  only  with  smooth-bore  muskets — advance  to 
the  attack  of  an  entrenched  position,  shouting  their  wild 
battle-cry,  melting  like  snow  under  a  fierce  cross-fire,  yet  never 
recoiling.  I  felt  proud  that  I  came  of  the  same  race.  I  hope 
you  Yankees  will  deal  tenderly  with  them  when  all  is  over. 
....  But  I  am  forgetting  that  I  have  a  letter  for  you.  Here 
it  is." 

"  From  Paul  "  (opening  the  missive).  "  Have  you  read 
it  t  " 

"Of  course  not,  nor  heard  it  read." 

"  Listen  !  It  is  so  like  Paul,  '  I  felt  sure  that  a  man  who 
could  make  a  horse  turn  a  somersault  over  a  hedge,  in  the 
way  your  sweetheart  did  that  time  at  All  Hallows,  would  make 
a  good  soldier.  And  he  is  a  good  one — as  good  as  they 
make  'em.  He  did  us  )^eoman  service  at  Chancellorsville. 
If  there  were  more  like  him,  and  we  had  a  strong  general  in 
supreme  command,  and  the  President  would  hang  Halleck, 
I  believe  we  should  be  at  Richmond  in  a  month.  The  Buck- 
tails  worship  the  little  Englishman  (as  they  call  Locksley) 
and  would  go  through  fire  and  water  for  him.  I  think  they 
would  almost  drink  water  for  him,  if  he  asked  'em.  .  .  . 
I  hope  you  will  grant  his  request.     He  richly  deserves  it.' " 

"  What  request .''     What  does  he  mean  ?  "  asked  Olive. 

"  I  want  you  to  name  the  day,  darling.  You  will,  won't 
you  ? " 

"  But  it  is  impossible.  You  are  going  back  to  the  front, 
and  who  knows  when " 

"  Exactly,  who  knows  when,  if  not  now  }  I  have  three 
days'  leave.     W'hy  cannot  we  be  married  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  To-morrow  !  To-morrow  !  And  lose  you  the  day  after  ? 
Oh,  Charlie  !  " 

"  It  would  be  a  great  comfort,  dear,  to  feel  that  you  belong- 
to  me,  that  we  belong  to  each  other,  until  death." 

"  For  pity's  sake,  don't  put  it  in  that  way.  Death,  death," 
exclaimed  Olive,  in  a  tone  of  terror.  '•  I  think  we  had 
better  wait — but  if  you  wish  it  very  much  let  it  be  as  you 
say." 

"Thank  you,  Olive,  thank  you  very  much,"  said  Charlie 
eagerly.  "  You  have  made  me  very  happy.  And  now  about 
the  preliminaries,  for  which  we  have  not  too  much  time.     I 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  337 

suppose  we  shall  want  a  license,  or  something  of  that  sort." 

"  I  suppose  so.  I'll  put  on  my  things,  and  we  will  go 
and  see  Mr.  Stretton,  our  clergyman.  He  will  tell  us  all 
about  it." 

The  things  were  put  on,  and  after  a  conference  with  the 
parson,  arrangements  were  made  for  the  marriage  to  take 
place  on  the  following  day.  Then  other  calls  were  made  ; 
Olive  introduced  her  lover  to  several  of  her  Washington 
friends,  one  of  whom  asked  them  to  luncheon,  another  to 
dinner ;  and  after  spending  together  the  greater  part  of 
a  happy  day  they  separated,  but  only  to  meet  again  in  the 
evening. 

It  was  past  eleven  when  Charlie,  after  leaving  his  sweet- 
heart at  the  hospital,  returned  to  his  quarters. 

As  he  entered  the  hotel  the  secretary  hailed  him. 

"  Here  is  a  telegraphic  despatch  for  you.  Major  Locksley," 
said  he.  "  It  came  at  seven  o'clock.  If  I  had  known  where 
you  were  I  should  have  sent  it  on." 

Charlie's  spirits  went  down  to  zero  with  a  run,  for  he  feared 
that  the  message  boded  no  good.  It  was  from  Paul  Conis- 
ton,  and  ran  thus  : 

"  Leave  cancelled.  You  are  to  report  )'Ourself  here  right 
away.  The  Rebs  are  massing  for  a  move,  and  fighting  may 
begin  any  moment.  You  have  got  promotion.  Don't  delay 
an  hour." 

"  Go  right  away  !  Not  until  I  am  married.  I'll  see  them 
all  hanged  first,"  thought  Charlie,  as  he  crushed  the 
telegram  angrily  in  his  hand.  "  I  wish  that  confounded 
secretary  had  not  given  it  to  me.  Twenty-four  hours  can 
make  no  great  dift'erence,  and  I  am  on  leave.  They  gave 
me  three  days  ;  I  didn't  ask  for  more,  and  by  heaven  I'll 
have  'em.     Poor  Olive,  what  would  she  think  ? " 

Then,  cooling  down  a  little,  he  reflected  that  twenty-four 
hours  might  make  a  great  deal  of  difference  ;  moreover,  the 
Older  was  peremptory,  and  a  soldier's  first  duty  is  obedience. 
If  he  did  not  obey  he  -would  deserve  to  be  court-martialed 
and  cashiered.  What  would  Olive  say  then  ?  What  would 
his  old  comrades  say.  It  was  a  hard  case,  a  very  hard  case, 
hard  to  defer  his  marriage  indefinitely,  harder  still  to  leave 
Olive  without  seeing  her  and  saying  farewell — the  chances 
being  about  even  that  he  should  never  see  her  again.  It 
was  out  of   the   question   to   disturb   her   at   that  time   of 

22 


338  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

night,  and  the  interview,  besides  taking  time,  might  shake 
his  resokition. 

If  he  did  go,  and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go,  the 
sooner  he  went  the  better. 

His  first  proceeding  was  to  send  a  telegram  to  Paul 
Coniston.  "  Message  just  received,  am  returning  right 
away." 

Next,  he  wrote  a  brief  letter  to  Olive,  in  which  was 
enclosed  her  cousin's  despatch.  Words,  he  said,  were 
powerless  to  describe  his  feelings ;  he  was  wild  with  disap- 
pointment. But  there  was  no  other  course,  compatible 
with  honor  and  soldierly  duty,  than  immediate  compliance 
with  the  order  he  had  received.  He  felt  sure  that  he  was 
doing  what  she  would  wish  him  to  do,  and  bade  her  be  of 
good  cheer.  On  the  very  first  opportunity  he  should  ask  for 
another  and  a  longer  leave  of  absence,  when  he  would  claim 
the  fulfillment  of  her  promise.  Meanwhile,  he  should 
write  to  her  as  often  as  possible  and  hoped  she  would  write 
to  him. 

This  letter  he  confided  to  Captain  Lawton  (who  had  lost 
an  arm  at  Fredericksburg  and  was  not  yet  sufficiently 
recovered  for  active  duty)  and,  after  explaining  the  circum- 
stances, made  him  promise  to  give  it  to  Miss  Lincoln  with 
his  own  hand  early  on  the  following  morning. 

Half-an-hour  later  Major  Locksley  was  on  his  way  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac. 


THE  PKIiYCES  OF  PEELE. 


339 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


THE  BATTLE. 


The  battle  of  Gettysburg,  which  proved  to  be  the  turning 
point  of  the  Civil  War,  had  three  distinct  phases,  or,  rather, 
it  consisted  of  three  separate  conflicts,  fought  on  successive 
days.  The  first  went  in  favor  of  the  South  ;  the  second  was 
drawn  ;  the  third  ended  in  the  repulse  of  the  rebels  and  their 
retreat  into  Virginia.  This  event,  together  with  the  fall  of 
Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  which  took  place  about  the 
same  time,  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Confederacy,  and  sounded 
the  death  knell  of  slavery  on  the  North  American  continent. 
So  far,  the  Southerners  had  been  fighting  for  Home  Rule  ; 
thenceforward  they  fought  for  existence  and  honor,  and  none 
the  less  desperately  that  most  of  them,  especially  the  leaders, 
foresaw  the  inevitable  end. 

Brave  men  do  not  yield  because  fortune  seems  adverse  and 
hope  grows  dim,  and  never  were  braver  than  the  tattered  and 
hungry  veterans  of  the  army  of  Virginia,  whose  valor  and 
constancy  won  the  ungrudging  admiration  of  those  who  least 
loved  the  cause  for  which  so  many  of  them  shed  their  blood 
and  laid  down  their  lives. 

When  Charlie  reported  himself  at  headquarters  he  was 
rewarded  for  his  previous  services  and  prompt  return  by 
promotion  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  regiment,  vice  Coniston, 
promoted  to  the  command  of  a  brigade. 

"  It  was  very  rough  on  you  and  Olive,"  said  Paul.  "  But 
the  General  insisted  ;  and  if  you  had  not  hurried  up  you 
would  not  have  got  the  regiment,  that's  a  fact.  And  you  are 
none  too  soon.  The  Rebs  have  crossed  the  Rappahanock, 
and  there  will  be  wigs  on  the  green  before  long.  That's 
another  fact." 

During  the  month  which  preceded  the  decisive  encounter, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  promiscuous  fighting,  in  which 
Locksley  bore  a  part  and  went  through  unscathed.  Neither 
did  aught  worth  mentioning  befall  him  in  the  first  day's  battle. 


340  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

The  tactics  of  the  Federals  were  strictly  defensive  ;  they  held 
strong  positions  round  Gettysburg,  against  which,  during  two 
long  summer  days,  the  rebels  dashed  themselves  like  a  stormy 
ocean  against  a  rock-bound  coast,  but,  failing  in  their  bold 
endeavor,  and  their  ammunition  being  exhausted  and  their 
losses  appalling,  gave  up  the  contest  and  withdrew  to  their 
own  country. 

Among  the  more  important  of  the  positions  in  question 
were  two  wooded  heights,  on  the  left  of  the  Federal  line, 
known  respectively  as  Round  Top  and  Little  Round  Top. 
On  the  western  slope  of  these  hills  was  Devil's  Den,  a 
rocky  crest  and  glen,  the  scene  of  several  fierce  encoun- 
ters ;  and  a  little  to  the  north  lay  Trostle's  Farm,  the 
Hougoumont  of  Gettysburg.  Hereabouts  was  the  hottest 
fighting  on  the  second  day,  and  could  the  Confederates  have 
captured  and  held  these  "  coigns  of  vantage,"  the  battle  had 
been  theirs.  Hereabouts,  too,  were  posted  Colonel  Locksley 
and  his  Bucktails,  who  met  the  rebels  with  a  resolution  equal 
to  their  own. 

It  was  only  late  in  the  day  that  the  Federals  realized  the 
importance  of  Little  Round  Top,  and  they  had  no  sooner 
occupied  it  with  a  battery  and  two  brigades  of  infantry  than 
the  rebels  began  to  climb  the  hill.  Dodging  from  tree  to 
tree,  now  creeping,  now  making  a  rush,  they  marched  on, 
heedless  alike  of  the  hurricane  of  musketry,  which  tore  great 
gaps  in  their  ranks,  and  the  hissing  shell,  which  sent  scores 
of  them  to  their  doom.  Two  Federal  brigadier-generals 
and  the  officer  in  command  of  the  battery  were  killed  within 
a  few  minutes. 

"  Hot  work  this,"  said  Charlie,  whose  horse  had  just  been 
shot  under  him,  to  one  of  his  captains. 

The  words  were  hardly  spoken  when  the  captain  leaped  in 
the  air,  then  fell  on  his  face,  convulsively  tearing  at  the  grass 
iri  his  death  agony. 

"  At  them  with  the  bayonet,  boys  !  "  shouted  Locksley, 
pointing  with  his  sword  and  leading  the  way. 

The  Bucktails  answered  with  a  cheer.  Then  ensued  a  fierce 
and  bloody  hand-to-hand  struggle.  Bayonet  crossed  bay- 
onet, muskets  were  clubbed,  men  dashed  at  each  other's 
throats,  and,  locked  in  each  other's  arms,  rolled  down  the  hill. 
Charlie  had  just  disarmed  a  rebel  officer,  who  at  the  same 
moment  was  shot  through  the  head  by  a  Federal  sergeant, 


THE  PRINCES  OE  PEELE.  341 

when  a  tall  Texan  went  for  him  with  his  bayonet.  Evading 
the  stroke  by  a  rapid  movement,  Charlie  got  inside  the  man's 
guard,  and  ran  him  through  the  body.  His  sword  breaking 
off  short,  he  picked  up  the  fallen  rebel's  musket  and  fought 
with  that. 

Finally  the  Confederates  were  hurled  down  the  hill,  with 
great  slaughter,  and  the  two  Round  Tops  left  in  possession 
of  the  Federal  forces.  Nevertheless,  the  latter  on  the  whole 
had  lost  ground,  and  at  seven  o'clock  the  position  of  their 
left  wing  was  decidedly  precarious.  The  men  from  the  South 
had  carried  the  Devil's  Den  and  captured  three  guns,  and 
now  swarmed  among  the  woods  and  rocks  at  the  base  of  the 
Round  Tops,  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  renew  the  attack. 
Some  of  the  Federal  positions  had  been  abandoned,  owing  to 
the  destruction  of  horses  and  drivers.  Of  the  eighty-eight 
horses  belonging  to  the  battery  which  held  Trestle's  Farm 
only  four  were  left  alive.  One  loyalist  division  had  been 
simply  smashed  up,  another  was  giving  way,  and  it  looked 
as  if  the  entire  left  wing  would  be  rolled  back. 

Night  drew  on.  Yet  still  the  battle  raged  ;  still  the  com- 
bat deepened.  A  thick  pall  of  smoke,  illumined  by  incessant 
flashes  of  blood-red  flame,  hung  over  the  field  ;  great  guns 
roared  defiance  as  they  threw  their  missiles  of  death  into  the 
thick  of  the  palpitating  throng  ;  the  shrieks  of  maddened 
horses  mingled  with  the  cries  of  wounded  men  ;  the  ground 
was  slippery  with  blood,  and  strewn  with  the  bodies  of  the 
slain  and  the  dying. 

In  that  terrible  fight  Locksley  lost  a  third  of  his  regiment. 
As  yet,  however,  he  had  not  been  touched.  It  seemed  as 
though  he  bore  a  charmed  life.  But  his  time  came.  He  had 
found  another  charger,  and  was  cheering  his  men  on,  when  a 
sudden  rush  of  the  rebels  on  their  left  flank  forced  them  back 
by  sheer  weight  of  numbers,  and  as  misfortunes  never  come 
singly,  his  horse  and  himself  were  hit  at  the  same  time. 
Both  went  down,  and  the  horse  falling  on  Locksley  crushed 
his  leg  and  pinned  him  to  the  ground. 

Just  then  a  regiment  from  another  corps  came  up  at  a 
run  to  reinforce  the  fighting  line  and  an  officer,  observing 
Charlie's  perilous  position,  hurried  to  his  rescue.  With  the 
help  of  some  of  the  Bucktails,  who  had  rallied  and  re-formed, 
he  raised  the  horse  and  released  his  fallen  rider. 

"  Are  you  much  hurt  ?  "  asked  the  officer. 


342  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

"  I  am  hit,  and  I  fear  my  leg  is  broken,"  answered  Charlie, 
faintly.     "  I  cannot  move." 

"  Take  him  to  the  rear,"  said  the  officer. 

He  also  had  to  be  taken  to  the  rear ;  for  even  as  he  gave 
the  order  a  bullet  struck  his  neck,  and  he  fell  as  if  dead. 

This  was  one  of  the  last  episodes  of  the  second  day's 
battle.  As  night  closed  in  the  rebels  sullenly  retired,  but 
they  were  not  pursued. 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE.  343 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

AFTER     THE     BATTLE. 

Charlie's  sudden  departure  was  naturally  a  great  shock 
for  his  sweetheart.  But  the  postponement  of  their  marriage 
gave  her  less  concern  than  its  cause — the  opening  of  another 
campaign  and  the  imminence  of  more  fighting,  which  meant 
peril  to  the  cause — another  defeat  might  be  fatal — and  still 
greater  peril  to  her  lover.  For  noblesse  oblige ;  as  a  Victoria 
Cross  man  he  had  a  reputation  to  maintain,  and  would,  she 
felt  sure,  be  ever  in  the  thick  of  danger,  and  the  forefront  of 
the  battle.  What  if  the  Federals  should  be  vanquished  and 
Charlie  slain  ?  Heaven  forbid  !  She  put  the  foreboding 
from  her,  yet  ever  and  anon  it  would  thrust  itself  forward, 
making  her  nights  wretched  and  wringing  her  soul  with 
anguish. 

Often  she  recalled  the  time  when  she  had  reproached  him 
for  his  seeming  want  of  purpose,  and  he  had  confided  to 
her  his  dislike  of  the  law  and  regret  that  destiny  had  not 
made  him  a  soldier.  And  now  he  was  a  soldier,  fighting  for 
the  Union — and  her.  The  thought  thrilled  Olive  with  pride. 
He  was  her  hero  :  she  had  gained  him  for  the  cause,  given 
to  it  what  she  held  most  precious,  and  if  he  should  give  to 
it  his  life,  God's  will  be  done. 

And  yet,  and  yet,  would  it  not  have  been  better  had  Charlie 
remained  a  lawyer,  and  he  and  she  had  married  and  settled 
down  in  that  pleasant  land  across  the  sea,  and  followed  those 
country  pursuits  in  which  they  both  so  much  delighted.  .... 
No  !  That  would  have  been  unheroic,  cowardly  even,  a  clear 
evasion  of  duty.  They  had  chosen  the  better  part.  When 
the  war  was  over  and  the  Union  restored,  and  Charlie  had 
sheathed  his  sword,  they  might  revisit  England,  see  dear 
old  All  Hallows  again,  and  hunt  with  the  Riversdale  hounds 
once  more.     God  grant  it ! 

The  hot  June  days  went  swiftly  on,  and  each  day  brought 
news  to  Washington,  news  of  mustering  squadrons,  of  en- 


344 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE. 


counters  with  the  enemy,  of  losses  and  captures,  and,  above 
all,  of  the  steady  advance  northward  of  the  rebel  host.  Men 
feared  for  the  issue,  and  as  the  supreme  moment  drew  near, 
their  fears  deepened.  The  Army  of  Virginia,  emboldened 
by  repeated  victories,  was  proudly  confident.  Composed 
mainly  of  veterans,  led  by  a  captain  of  consummate  ability, 
whose  Government  gave  him  a  free  hand,  it  was  ready  to  go 
anywhere  and  do  anything. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  the  other  hand,  was  dis- 
couraged by  defeat,  in  its  ranks  were  many  green  recruits, 
the  commander-in-chief  had  been  changed  five  times  in  ten 
months,  and  the  occupant  of  that  unenviable  post  had  to 
fight  both  the  enemy  and  the  chief  of  the  staff  at  Washington, 
at  that  time  the  enemy's  most  potent  ally. 

On  the  I  St  of  July  it  was  reported  that  Lee  had  attacked 
Meade  in  a  position  chosen  by  the  latter,  and  that  a  great  battle 
had  begun.  The  result,  as  telegraphed  to  Washington  the 
same  night,  was  discouraging  ;  the  result  of  the  second  day's 
fighting  was  indecisive.  All  the  general  public  could  make 
out  was  that  neither  army  had  retreated. 

Like  thousands  of  other  women  at  that  time,  Olive  Lincoln 
was  in  an  agony  of  apprehension  and  excitement.  She 
trembled  for  her  country  and  her  lover.  She  -pictured  him 
waving  his  sword,  leading  his  men  to  victory,  and  when  the 
fight  was  over,  receiving  the  victor's  reward.  She  saw  him 
fighting  hand-to-hand  against  overwhelming  odds,  saw  him 
faint  and  wounded,  saw  him  lying  stark  and  stiff,  horses 
galloping  over  him  and  men  trampling  on  his  bleeding  body. 
Then  she  would  take  courage,  try  to  persuade  herself  that  all 
was  well  with  him  and  the  cause ;  but  though  she  preserved 
her  outward  calm  and  attended  to  her  duties  in  the  hospital, 
her  mind  was  in  a  continual  turmoil,  and  she  knew  no  rest. 

On  the  evening  of  July  3d  she  received  a  telegram.  It 
was  several  seconds  before  she  could  muster  up  courage  to 
break  the  seal.  It  might  either  be  a  code  of  death  or  bring 
tidings  of  great  joy.  The  sender  was  Paul  Coniston,  and 
this  is  what  he  said  : 

"  Locksley  wounded,  though  not  severely.  He  fought 
nobly  and  won  great  praise.     Rebs  in  full'  retreat." 

"  That    means    he  is  severely   wounded,"  thought  Olive. 


THE  PRIXCES  OF  PEELE.  345 

"  If  he  had  not  been  he  would  have  telegraphed  himself. 
Paul  might  have  said  how  he  was.  At  any  rate,  he  is  alive 
and  the  victory  ours.     I  shall  go  to  Gettysburg  right   away." 

She  sought  out  Captain  Lawton,  with  whom  she  had  be- 
come good  friends,  and  asked  him  to  go  with  her.  He  con- 
sented gladly,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  they  set  off. 

It  was  a  memorable  journey.  On  every  hand  they  saw 
sights  and  signs  that  showed  the  terrible  character  of  the 
struggle  which  had  been  waged  among  the  hills  and  dales  of 
the  Quaker  State — companies  of  Confederate  prisoners  under 
escort,  gaunt,  dirty,  ragged  fellows,  their  faces  still  black  with 
the  smoke  of  battle,  yet  stepping  jauntily  and  bearing  them- 
selves bravely — wounded  soldiers,  their  heads  bandaged,  their 
arms  in  slings,  hieing  them  homeward  or  making  for  Washing- 
ton— shattered  buildings  and  trampled  fields. 

Round  about  Gettysburg,  houses,  barns,  churches,  stables, 
were  crowded  with  wounded,  who  of  both  armies,  numbered 
upwards  of  twenty-four  thousand  ;  many  of  the  dead  still  lay 
unburied  ;  for  in  the  three  days'  fighting  nearly  six  thousand 
were  sent  to  their  last  account. 

Olive  and  her  companion  had  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining 
Colonel  Locksley's  whereabouts  ;  but  they  eventually  found 
him  in  the  Lutheran  Church  at  Gettysburg,  which  had  been 
turned  into  a  hospital. 

At  the  door  whom  should  she  meet  but  Captain  Revel. 

"  You  here  !  "  exclaimed  Olive.  "  Have  you  also  joined 
our  army  ?  " 

"  No,  I  am  here  merely  as  an  observer,  and  a  student  of 
the  art  of  war,  temporarily  attached  by  special  favor,  to  the 
staff  of  a  general  of  division,  I  came  just  in  time  for  the 
shindy." 

"  Charlie  !     How  is  he  ?  " 

"  As  well  as  can  be  expected.  They  have  extracted  the 
bullet,  and  his  leg  is  not  broken,  only  badly  contused.  I 
don't  think  he  is  as  badly  hurt  as  he  was  when  he  had  that 
tumble  into  the  lane  and  gOL  his  head  broken." 

"  My  poor  boy  !     He  is  always  unlucky." 

"  Not  a  bit.  The  luckiest  man  I  know.  Why,  he  was  in 
the  very  thick  of  it — I  wish  I  had  been  there — and  is  sure  to 
get  his  promotion,  I  always  said  he  would  be  a  general." 

"  Take  me  to  him,  please." 

The  wounded  hero  lay  on  a  pallet,  looking  very  pale  and 


346  THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 

evidently  in  pain  ;  but  when  he  saw  Olive  his  eyes  bright- 
ened, and  a  smile  of  gratitude  lighted  up  his  face. 

"  My  poor  boy  !  "  she  murmured,  and  stooped  and  kissed 
him. 

"  How  good  of  you  to  come,  and  so  quickly.  God  bless 
you,  darling,"  he  whispered. 

"  How  could  I  help  coming  when  I  knew  my  dear  lad  was 
wounded?  Paul  said  so  little,  and  I  feared  he  had  not  told 
me  the  worst." 

"  He  had  no  time  to  say  more.  He  is  pursuing  the  Rebs. 
You  see  that  man  on  the  next  pallet  ?  " 

The  man  on  the  next  pallet  was  even  paler  than  Charlie. 
His  eyes  were  shut  and  his  neck  was  bandaged. 

"  Is  he  dead  }  " 

"  No  !  no  !     Jack  ?  " 

The  man  opened  his  eyes. 

"  Here  is  somebody  come  to  see  us.  Somebody  you  have 
heard  of.      Olive  Lincoln — my  brother  Jack." 

"  John  Prince  .''  " 

"  Yes,  the  brave  fellow  came  to  my  rescue  when  I  was 
under  my  horse  and  could  not  rise,  and  got  badly  wounded 
for  his  pains." 

"  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  offer  you  my  hand,"  said  Jack 
feebly,  "  but  I  was  hit  in  the  neck  and  am  completely  para- 
lyzed.    I  cannot  move  a  limb,  and  have  not  long  to  live." 

"  Nonsense,  old  man,  you  will  pull  through.  Never  say 
die." 

Jack  shut  his  eyes  again. 

"  I  have  paid  back  every  penny,"  he  murmured,  "  every 
penny.  I  said  they  should  not  hear  of  me  again  unless  it 
was  something  good,  and  I  have  kept  my  word.  '  Keep  me, 
oh,  keep  me.  King  of  kings,  under  Thine  own  Almighty 
wings.'  The  old  man  would  have  forgiven  me,  I  am  sure  he 
would — and  my  mother " 

Olive  had  a  happy  thought. 

"  Jack,"  she  said,  softly. 

Jack  opened  his  eyes. 

"  I  have  something  to  tell  you.  I  saw  your  dear  mother, 
not  long  before  her  death  ;  and  she  charged  me,  if  I  should 
meet  you,  to  say  that  she  not  only  forgave  you  with  all  her 
heart,  but  was  proud  of  you ;  she  kept  your  likeness  always 
by  her,  and  sent  you  her  blessing." 


THE  PRINCES  OF  PEELE. 


347 


"  Thank  God  !  "  and  he  closed  his  eyes  again,  as  it  might 
seem,  in  silent  prayer. 

Then  he  looked  up. 

"  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you,  Olive,"  he  said,  "  a  last 
favor  to  a  dying  man." 

"  Oh,  don't  talk  in  that  way ;  I  will  do  whatever  you 
want." 

"  Charlie  has  told  me  about  you  and  himself,  of  his  great 
love  for  you,  of  the  trials  you  have  undergone,  and  of  his 
late  disappointment,  and  it  would  be  a  great  comfort  to  me 
to  see  you  married  before  I  die." 

"  Now  ?  " 

"  Yes,  right  now.  This  is  a  church,  and  the  clergyman 
was  with  me  only  a  few  minutes  since." 

"  What  do  you  think,  Charlie  ?  "  asked  Olive,  turning  to 
her  lover  with  a  perplexed  look. 

"  I  think  we  must  humor  him,  poor  fellow.  The  doctors 
don't  give  much  hope ;  his  life  hangs  on  a  thread,  and  I 
should  like  it  immensely,  Olive.  You  could  stay  with  me 
altogether,  and  I  should  get  better  in  no  time." 

"  Let  it  be  so,  then.  I  cannot  do  less  for  the  dear  lad 
who  has  done  so  much  for  me." 

On  this  Captain  Revel  was  called  into  counsel  and 
informed  what  had  been  decided. 

"  The  very  best  thing  you  can  do,"  quoth  he,  and  went  to 
fetch  the  parson,  who,  on  the  circumstances  being  explained, 
willingly  consented  to  perform  the  ceremony. 

And  so  in  that  church  full  of  wounded  men,  amid  scenes 
of  suffering,  and  on  the  morrow  of  an  epoch-making  battle, 
Charlie  and  Olive  were  made  man  and  wife. 

When  the  war  was  over  they  went  to  England,  and  General 
Locksley  and  his  comely  wife  may  still  be  occasionally  seen 
at  the  covert  side  in  a  sporting  county  not  far  from  the 
town  of  Peele. 

Jack  Prince  surprised  everybody,  and  nobody  more  than 
himself,  by  getting  better.  After  two  years  of  suffering  and 
helplessness,  he  regained  the  use  of  his  limbs  ;  but  he  never 
regained  his  restive  strength,  and  his  life  was  not  long. 

THE  END. 


5.  Ob.  Bai-rie'8  Morks. 

Complete.    In  3  vols.,  beveled  cloth,  gilt  top,  $8.50 ; 
half  calf,  $16.00. 


The  Little  Minister. 

By  J.    M.   Barrie.      New  edition,   with  full-page  illustrations.  '  l2mo, 
cloth,  gilt,   $1.25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

"A  literary  gem  of  enduring  value  and  beauty  in  its  unadorned  straightforward- 
ness and  simple  power." — Chicago  Herald. 

Two  of  Them. 

By  J.   M.   Barrie.     With  10  full-page  illustrations.      i2mo,  cloth,  gill, 
$1.25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

A  volume  that  is  replete  with  the  author's  characteristic  delineations  of  human 
nature  in  all  its  phases.     The  work  is  admirably  illustrated. 

A  Tillyloss  Scandal. 

By  J.   M.   Barrie.      i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00 ;  paper,  50  cents. 

In  this  story  of  Scottish  peasant  life  there  is  plenty  of  dry  humor,  amusing 
incident,  and  a  rare  power  of  picturesque  narration. 

When  a  Man's  Single. 

B>  y.   M.  Barrie.     i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

"The  language  in  'When  a  Man's  Single'  is  undefiled  by  oae  extravag:ance  or 
indifference,  and  his  delicious  sketches  of  English  newspaper  routine  are  brimful  of 
lifelike  color  and  rich  humor." — Chicago  Nen^s. 

A  Window  in  Thrums. 

By  J.   M.  Barrie.      i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00;  paper,  50  cents. 

"  'A  Window  in  Thrums'  cannot  be  adequately  analyzed.  It  must  be  read  and 
will  be  re-read,  for  it  is  full  of  homely  wit  and  sympathy  in  its  simple  annals." 

— Boston  Globe. 

Auld  Licht  Idylls. 

By  J.    M.   Barrie.      i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

"  These  are  careful,  minute,  humorous,  vivid,  and  sympathetic  pictures  of  every- 
day life  ;  valuable  as  yet  another  route  of  fireside  travel." — Neiu  York  IVorld. 

An  Edinburgh  Eleven. 

Pencil  Portraits  from  College  Life.    By  J.  M.  Barrie.     i2mo. 
cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00. 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  fascinating  to  one  who  enjoys  the  spell  of  highly  ur  g- 
inal  prose  than  these  essays  in  reminiscence." — Brooklyn  Times. 

Better  Dead,  and  My  Lady  Nicotine. 

By  J.   M.   Barrie.      i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00;  paper,  50  cents. 

"  Two  of  Mr.  Barrie's  earlier  works  containing  the  same  originality  of  style  and 
force  of  expression  that  characterizes  his  later  works." — Public  Opinion, 


*,*  For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  of  price,  by 

Lovell,    Coryell    &   Company,  Publishers, 

5  and  7  East  i6th  Street,  New  York. 


